Greenwald: Australia Surveillance Program One of World’s Most Aggressive

Australia conducts one of the most aggressive surveillance programs in the world, Glenn Greenwald, the US journalist who first reported NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations, said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Greenwald’s comments came a month after Snowden criticized Australia's new data retention laws passed in March, that mandate that telecommunications companies store customers’ data for up to two years.

Snowden called the laws a dangerous example of a liberal government’s violation of civil liberties and promised to reveal more documents on Australia’s intelligence operations.

"Australia is one of the most aggressive countries that engage in mass surveillance as a member of the Five Eyes Partnership," Greenwald told ABC broadcaster Thursday night.

Five Eyes is a spy alliance including, aside from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The above countries are bound by a treaty to share intelligence.

"Australia is probably the country that has got away with things the most in terms of the Snowden revelations… We definitely intend to change that," the journalist added.

Since 2013, former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has been leaking documents that have exposed numerous global surveillance programs, many of them run by the NSA and the Five Eyes with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments.