SLAID Act 2021 — State Hacking / Disruption Warrants
institutionIntelligence & Surveillance · Darknet & Cyber
A 2021 Australian law lets police secretly delete your data and take over your online accounts.
Who they are
Australia's SLAID Act of 2021 (the Surveillance Legislation Amendment, Identify and Disrupt Act).
What they do
It gives federal police and a crime agency three new offensive hacking powers.
How it works
The three warrant types let authorities modify or delete data, gather intelligence on online criminal networks, and take over someone's account; controversially, they can be signed off by members of an administrative tribunal rather than only by judges. An independent monitor's review around 2024 found the disruption and network warrants weren't adequately safeguarded.
Why it matters
The engine reads it as police crossing from quietly watching to actively hacking and disrupting, an official step into state-run cyber-attacks on citizens.
The engine's record — word for word
Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Act 2021 — three offensive warrant types for the AFP/ACIC: Data Disruption (modify/delete data), Network Activity (intel on online criminal networks), Account Takeover (assume control of an account). Controversially issuable by Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) members, not only judges. The INSLM (Jake Blight, ~2024 review) assessed the disruption/network warrants as inadequately safeguarded (paraphrase; exact 'not fit for purpose' wording to be pinned). Engine read: law enforcement crosses from passive collection to active state-sponsored cyber-disruption. [verified/corrected] [Australia surveillance-state harvest — Aug 17 2026]
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