Not content to lie to the public about iiNet supporting the government’s proposed mandatory internet filter, Senator Conroy continued his campaign of not necessarily getting his facts right yesterday by claiming on ABC News that if you were banking online when Google’s Streetview car came rolling by, it could have sucked up all your personal information.
According to the Minister:
“[If]you were doing a banking transaction, or transmitting personal information, they could have hoovered it up, sucked it up into their machine”.
I’ll let the technical wizards from SAGE-AU explain, in the words of spokesperson Iain Robertson, why this claim is wrong:
“While it is clear Google’s Street View cars collected more data than necessary – a practice not condoned by SAGE-AU – Internet banking data is safe from collection due to the nature of the communications from web browsers to Internet banking servers.
“Banking transactions conducted over the Internet use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption between web browsers and banking servers. Such websites can be identified by the ‘https://’ part of a web address in the browser bar.
“The use of encryption in this manner is a proven technology and is part of banking industry standard practice throughout Australia. Even if portions of Internet banking communications were intercepted by Google’s Street View cars, it is not possible for that data to be decrypted by unintended recipients such as Google.”
SAGE-AU’s press release claims that the Minister’s comments are “misinformation verging on fear mongering”. I’d say his comments are well past the point of “verging” on anything but ineptitude…
Dean
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:06 PMThis guy is a joke.
Luke Eller
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:07 PMIt’s this kind of misinformation that fuels peoples’ fear of online banking and online shopping. How fortunate are we to have such a knowledgeable and rational communications minister.
Luke
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:22 PMThis seems to me like a flaw in our system of government. Ministers given portfolios and forced to speak about issues of which they have limited knowledge and background. If his statements were correct mobile banking and internet purchasing worldwide would be inherently unsafe. Is it is this sort of naivety and old thinking that is unforgivable for our telecommmunications minister.
Luke Santillo
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:27 PMAlso,
This is why we still have slow internet and expensive mobile data,it’s because the people in charge of these kind of things dont know a thing about technology!
David Hynes
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 9:57 PMUnfortunately those who are smart enough to make a change for the better in the government are also smart enough not to get into politics. I don’t think I know of any minister in state or federal parliament that actually has experience in their portfolio.
Cameron
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:08 PMWhat the hell is an x-msg:// link???? (the SAGE-AU link)
Nick Broughall
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:30 PMDunno – copied it from an email. Fixed now…
Michael Prust
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:09 PMIs there anywhere we can report this stuff to the proper authorities? We need to prove that this guy is clearly in the wrong job and is a just a god damn hazard.
mxwoz
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:55 PMI think you would have to report someone misspeaking on communications to the communications minister. oh Wait what, stack-overflow
Tristan
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:40 PM+1 – Agree with this!
Gibbo Gibbleton
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 10:25 PMhaha take it to the queen!
Matt Traynor
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:20 PMWhy does this man still have a job? This would be hilarious if it weren’t for the position he’s in and the responsibilities he has…
Tommy
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:23 PMHow fortunate we are to have an election coming up soon.
Nathan Adams
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:53 PMI sure hope they give us an ‘Anyone but Conroy’ option at the ballot.
Adam K
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:32 PMIn all seriousness, how would one go about reporting this idiot for being completely inept at his job? Who do we report him to.. I’m legitimately scared that this guy is in charge. He’s like half the managers I work for.. Lovely people don’t get me wrong, but if you explain something technological to them and then they try and relay that to someone else it will always come out in that wonderful ‘Series of Tubes’ style turn of phrase; which is what I believe happens with Stephen Conroy.
Gross misrepresentation of technology annoys me no end.
RawPrawn
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:35 PMI thikn there is an opening in the IT Crowd series. Wh ynot carry the internet around in a box and only let people you like look in. Much simpler.
JM
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:40 PMDon’t vote out an entire government on the basis of one (or few) persons actions. Vote them out if the other party will do a better job.
Rappo
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 8:36 AMActually I would call Conroy an excellent reason to vote Liberal. It can’t be counted as “it’s just Conroy that’s a problem” as the rest of the Labour party put him there, and lets him stay there. Conroy is an idiot (at least when it comes to IT). As the party supports him, I see no way but to vote liberal in the hopes of removing this fool from office.
David Luke
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 11:40 AMI’m with Rappo on this. I’m more than willing to hinge my vote on a single minister’s retardation. It’s a pity that that results in flip-flopping back and forth between only two far from ideal parties, but it’s a ridiculous system. Even describing it as bipartisan is laughable. We need a far more granular way to contribute to the so-called democratic process rather than just voting for one or the other of the Laborals.
Scott
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:47 PMI know I’ll be doing the long hand senate selection at the next election, just so I can put this idiot last.
matt
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:49 PMbah, you hear him now, he (kev) has been told to appeal to right wing voters at the expense of left wing voters in the assumption that they have already given up on labor and will vote for the Greens, then the Greens will give all their preferences to labor…
I am not impressed by a single thing the liberals have put forward, but I don’t care if labor have the cure for cancer, I WILL NOT vote for them AT ALL while they push this policy!
maybe… vote for the greens, force all my preferences to the liberals, make labor join up with the Greens to take power? would that work?
Greens are the strongest opponents of the filter (more so than the liberals).
Justin phillips
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 4:54 PMWhy is he still got a job, oh wait cause the right wing’s out there are pushing their agendas that’s why…one Spaz two Spaz three Spaz four!….
watto
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 5:10 PMKevin Rudd could probably win the upcoming election if he sacked this bloke and got rid of the filter on the tubes and portals…
simon
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 5:12 PM/me loads his 1400fps lead tictacs
Louis Thorp
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 5:52 PMThis guy has sole handedly lost my vote for labor, what a joke!
Jason Ranieri
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:17 PMhow come I have to go to uni to get a proper qualification so I know what i am talking about? and this guy can say whatever comes into his little brain and influence thousands ? Shouldn’t he have a similar qualification criteria upon hiring?
Sonal
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:23 PMI hear from a reliable source (Senator Conroy) that Google’s “machines” can even suck up your soul.
edthecow
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:23 PMOf course, if Google had *supported* Conroy’s Great Wall of Filter, well then…
Elephant Fresh
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:28 PMhis whole interview on ABC 774 was fucking laughable. the man clearly has no technical interest in or understanding of the internet. He, and apparently the AFP, seem to view the internet (and businesses originating there) as some kind of pan-international anarchist network. muppets.
LucasF
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:41 PMI think I’ve just decided to give my vote to the greens.
col
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 6:59 PMHand this man a tinfoil hat!
Pete
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:22 PMSeriously – could you REALLY vote for Abbot’s lot???
Tom Reynolds
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:30 PMMy Gmail is https too- so that too is safe.
Honestly, this guy is stupid. I can say that and he won’t call me. He can’t even figure out how to turn of airplane mode on his iphone.
You know he’s just one question time away from calling the internet a “series of tubes”.
Nick
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:40 PMoh my… can’t vote liberal, now can’t vote labor either. looks like greens it is!
Sam Sweeney
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at 12:25 PMIt seems to me a lot of people just think the greens are a joke, but they do have some interesting things to say.
Bernhard de Kok
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:55 PMI’m not against the current government, but I can’t stand this bloke.
If Rudd wasn’t going to do anything over the insulation scandal, he’s certainly not going to do anything about this tool.
Mores the pity.