The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have accepted all recommendations from the Commonwealth Ombudsman following his investigation into the police’s management of telecommunication access requests.
Chief Police Officer for the ACT, Neil Gaughan said that in January last year the AFP identified compliance issues, some dating back to 2007, which involved record-keeping, authorisation processes and reporting of telecommunication requests related to location-based services.
“The AFP commissioned an independent audit and also self-reported to the Commonwealth Ombudsman,” CPO Gaughan said.
“Today, the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s own-motion investigation report was released and the AFP has accepted all eight recommendations,” he said.
CPO Gaughan said several of the Ombudsman’s recommendations related to strengthening and streamlining ACT Policing processes.
He said ACT Policing had implemented a number of measures to prevent identified issues from reoccurring and had been working closely with AFP and the Ombudsman to enhance compliance.
“As police officers we have access to special powers for investigative purposes to ensure the safety of the entire community,” he said.
“We take this responsibility seriously, and accept and apologise for our past non-compliance outlined in the Ombudsman’s report.”
CPO Gaughan assured the community the AFP had changed its approach to requesting and approving access to mobile device locations.
He said all location requests on mobile devices were now centralised through the AFP Covert Analysis and Assurance business area.
“The AFP has updated internal policies and alerted all employees who use these laws for investigation to be aware of their obligations and requirements,” CPO Gaughan said.
The Ombudsman’s 57-page report, Australian Federal Police’s (AFP) use and administration of telecommunications data powers 2010 to 2020, can be accessed at this PS News link.
