ipad in custody

I guess everyone knows by now that Fairfax journalist Ben Grubb was detained by Queensland police seeking evidence in a Facebook security breach case yesterday.

Grubb tweeted I've been arrested by Queensland police for a story I wrote today. They've also seized my ipad.

Grubb had reported for Fairfax news websites on a BSides Australia event on Sunday associated with the gathering of internet security professionals at the 10th annual AusCERT Information Security Conference at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on Queensland's Gold Coast.

Queensland police told a UStream feed at a press conference this morning that arrest was a technical term, and it didn't mean Grubb was or would be charged with anything. Queensland police argued that while they couldn't comment on what was described as an ongoing investigation, people in possession of photographs taken from the Facebook website without its owner's permission might be charged with receiving stolen goods, as if someone had a stolen television in their possession.

Fairfax has since removed a photograph from its SMH and AGE websites.

We live in times when just walking down the street with a smartphone turned on might expose individuals to arrest. Most smart phones will connect with any wireless hub they can, and if a smartphone is connected to a push media service, information will be sent to the device without further solicitation from a user. Given the propensity of smart devices to cache any data that might be in the air in which they happen to be, millions of Australian smartphones might now store the very evidence that got Ben Grubb arrested.

The theme of this year's annual AusCERT conference is overexposed. According to AusCERT's press release, the theme reflects the increasing exposure to information security risks that people, business and society face.

Queensland police told the press conference that the internet and its use posed significant challenges for law enforcement. Of course police are entitled to look for evidence wherever they can reasonably expect to find it. And a Queensland police spokesperson told this morning's press conference they had very little latitude in the way their inquiries were conducted.

So perhaps it is time to turn the push settings on your 'phone, 'pod and 'pad to OFF. Like most things in life, media consumption can be a matter of considered choice, not automata. It will be liberating, perhaps, to decide what to consume, and when. And it might save you from a life of crime, especially, it seems, in Queensland.