High Court Rules That Evidence Derived From ANOM Is Admissible

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The High Court of Australia has delivered a landmark decision which makes clear that evidence covertly derived by way of software installed by government authorities into encrypted phones is admissible despite the absence of a surveillance device warrant.

The judgment highlights the deficiency in civil liberties in Australia - a nation whose constitution does not enshrine basic rights such as privacy, free speech and association, or protect against mass surveillance, or arbitrary searches or seizures.

What is ANOM, and how was it used?

The encrypted-messaging platform AN0M (also written "ANOM") was at the centre of an international law-enforcement sting involving the Australian Federal Police (AFP), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other global partners-under the operations known as Operation Ironside (Australia) / Operation Trojan Shield (international). The agencies covertly distributed modified phones with