QUEENSLAND POLICE SERVICE

RIGHT TO INFORMATION & PRIVACY

200 Roma Street, BRISBANE QLD 4000

GPO BOX 1440, BRISBANE QLD 4001

Telephone:  (07) 3364 4666      Facsimile:  (07) 3364 4675      Email: xxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx

Our Ref: RTI/30900
Your Ref: N/A
25 August 2020

Mt T. Norton
By Email Only: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx

Dear Mr Norton

Re:
Application under the Right to Information Act 2009

I refer to your application for access to documents under the Right to Information Act 2009
(Qld) (RTIA) received by the Queensland Police Service (QPS), Right to Information and
Privacy Unit on 9 June 2020, in which you seek access to the following information:

I  am  writing  under  the  provisions  of  the  Freedom  of  Information  Act  to  request  the
documents relating directly to:
1.  the use of IMSI catchers owned and operated by the Queensland Police Service as
of April 2020.

An “International Mobile Subscriber Identity” catcher (IMSI Catcher) may go by the following
brand names including Stingray, SimSucker, Kingfish, Harpoon, Amberjack, or Hailstorm.

In particular I request the following information:

2.  Current number of IMSI catchers owned and/or operated by the Queensland Police
Service;
3.  Purchase orders,
4.  invoices, contracts,
5.  loan agreements,
6.  solicitation letters,
7.  correspondence with companies and
8.  other similar records regarding the acquisition of IMSI catchers;
9.  Marketing  or  promotional  materials  received  by  the  Queensland  Police  Service
relating to IMSI catchers;
10. All requests made by to the Queensland Police Service by
a.  companies or
b.  government agencies
to keep confidential any aspect of the possession and

11. use of IMSI catchers, including
a.  any non-disclosure agreements;
b.  Legislation,
c.  codes of practice,
d.  policy statements,
e.  guides, manuals,
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f.  memoranda,
g.  presentations,
h.  training materials or

12. other records governing the use of IMSI catchers, including restrictions on
a.  when,
b.  where,
c.  how and
d.  against whom they may be used;
e.  limitations on retention and use of collected data;
f.  guidance on when a warrant
13. or other legal process must be obtained; and
14.  rules governing when the
a.   existence and
b.  use of IMSI catchers may be revealed to
i.  the public,
ii.  criminal defendants,
iii.  or judges.

Sections 24(2) and (3) of the RTIA sets out the requirements of a valid application:

(2)  The access application must –
(a)  be in the approved form; and be accompanied by the application fee; and
(b)  give sufficient information concerning the document to enable a responsible
officer of the agency or the Minister to identify the document; and
(c)  state an address to which notices under this Act may be sent to the applicant
(d)  state whether access to the document is sought for the benefit of, or use of
the document by—

(i) the applicant; or

(ii) another entity; and
Example for paragraph (d)(ii)— A journalist makes an access
application  for  a  document  for  use  of  the  document  by  an
electronic or print media organisation.
(e) if access to the document is sought for the benefit of, or use of the document
by, an entity other than the applicant—the name of the other entity.

(3)  Also, if the application is for access to a document containing personal information
of  the  applicant,  the  applicant  must  provide  with  the  application  or  within  10
business days after making the application —
(a)  evidence of identity for the applicant; and
(b)  if an agent is acting for the applicant— evidence of the agent’s authorisation
and evidence of identity for the agent.
Examples of an agent’s authorisation—

the  will  or  court  order  appointing  the  agent  to  act  as  the  applicant’s
guardian

the  client  agreement  authorising  a  legal  practitioner  to  act  for  an
applicant

if the application is made in reliance on section 25, evidence the agent
is the child’s parent

Part 2 subsection (3)(1) of the Right to Information Regulation 2009 (the RTIR) prescribes
the following forms of identification:

(a)  a passport; or
(b)  a copy of a certificate or extract from a register of births; or
(c)  a driver licence; or

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(d)  a statutory declaration from an individual who has known the person for at
least 1 year; or
(e)  if the person is a prisoner within the meaning of the Corrective Services Act
2006-a copy of the person’s identity card from the department administering
that Act that is certified by a corrective services officer within the meaning of
that Act.

Part 2 of the RTIR states:

(2)  If a document under this section, other than a document mentioned in subsection
(1) (e), is a photocopy of an original document, the document must be certified
by a qualified witness as being a correct copy of the original document.
(3)  In this section-
qualified witness means-
(a) a lawyer or notary public; or
(b) a commissioner for declarations; or
(c) a justice of the peace.

In its current form, your application is not valid as it does not satisfy section 24 of the RTIA.

Your application as submitted is not valid because you have not provided me with:


Payment of the $50.80 application fee.

NEXT STEPS
Before I refuse to deal with your application, you have the opportunity to consult with me
with a view to making your application in a way which complies with section 24 of the RTIA1.

Accordingly, I request that you provide me with:


Payment  of  the  $50.80  application  fee.  Payment  can  be  made  either  via  money
order  or  cheque  made  payable  to  the  Queensland  Police  Service.  Alternatively,
payment can be made via credit card by contacting this Unit.

Please  note  that the due date for response is 08 September 2020. If a response  is not
received from you by this date, a decision may be made to refuse to further deal with your
application.
It is important that you consider the contents of this letter and any further detail you could
provide to potentially enable your application to be processed. Should you not address the
issues raised in this letter, a decision could be made that your application does not comply
with  relevant  requirements2.  The  effect  of  such  a  decision,  if  made,  would  be  that  the
application could no longer be processed, and a fresh application would need to be made
should you still seek to access information held by QPS.

DISCLOSURE LOG

In accordance with section 78 of the RTIA following receipt of a valid application, the date
your application was received by this Unit and details regarding what you are applying for
will be published online on the QPS disclosure log.

1 Section 33(3) RTIA
2 Section 33(4) RTIA

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If this  Unit makes  a  considered  decision on  your application  to release  document/s, the
document/s will be considered for publication on the QPS disclosure log.

The QPS disclosure log can be located at the following web address:

www.police.qld.gov.au/rights-information/qps-disclosure-log

Should you have any further inquiries concerning this matter, please contact this office via
email on xxx@xxxxxx.xxx.xxx.xx quoting reference number RTI/30900.

Yours sincerely

E Burns
Senior Sergeant
Right to Information & Privacy

Document Outline