Old Turnbull and Rudd spat surfaces in encrypted app controversy
Internal briefings from the transparency watchdog show self-destructing messages may have hindered FOI requests.
Self-destructing encrypted messages may be allowing ministers and their staffers to circumvent freedom of information (FOI) laws, with the transparency watchdog internally outlining several potential examples just days after claiming it wasn’t aware of any.
One centres on missing messages sent between former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd before Turnbull publicly sunk Rudd’s bid to become United Nations secretary-general in 2016.
Capital Brief has reported concerns in the public service about the rampant use of encrypted apps, particularly when messages are set to disappear after being opened.
Although the FOI Act requires ministerial offices to retain correspondence related to government business, there are concerns that disappearing messages help avoid scrutiny. If messages are set to self-destruct and is not separately retained, they are impossible to find in an FOI search months later. FOI requests can then be rejected because the messages “do not exist”.
