The Australian Taxation Office has denied it monitors taxpayers’ mobile phones despite the release of a guide by a staffer showing how to hack into people’s phones.
The ATO staffer published instructions to bypass phone passwords and obtain data on the social networking site LinkedIn, .
The instructions would allow hacking of the phone even if its battery was flat or it didn’t have a SIM card.
Labor leader Bill Shorten described the leaking of the guide as a serious matter.
“We need to get briefings and find out what has gone on here,” Mr Shorten told reporters in South Australia on Wednesday.
“Obviously it is a very serious matter.”
The staffer involved has since been disciplined but the ABC reports the company cited in the hacking guide is the same one that reportedly helped the FBI break into the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, Cellebrite.
The ATO in a statement denied it hacks into phones.
"The ATO does not monitor taxpayers’ mobile phones or remotely access their mobile devices," a spokesman said.
Only in criminal investigations would the Cellbrite software be used, it added.
"Circumstances where the ATO uses technology such as the Universal Forensic Extraction software provided by Cellebrite, is to support criminal investigations.
"For example, where assets such as laptops or mobile devices may contain information about activity related to suspected organised crime or alleged large scale promotion of aggressive tax schemes."
The ATO said all such activity is conducted within the law.
"These assets would first need to be accessed following a court ordered warrant, where it is determined that material specifically relating to the court warrant is held on those assets.
"As this activity is conducted legally, and never involves remote access to a device, it is not correct to refer to it as ‘hacking’.
"Any use of software that may bypass the security lock of a phone, is conducted with the relevant legislative approval (primarily section 3E of the Crimes Act) or following written consent from the owner of the device."
Tenders show the Australian Federal Police paid the company $160,000 for the supply of a software annual license.
It also shows the ATO paid the firm $42,000 for an analyst to train staff on the software in Melbourne.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is pushing for legislation to allow encrypted messages on phones to be obtained.
