QUEENSLAND police are proposing new laws that would allow them to turn your internet connected products into listening devices to spy on your conversations.

But it suggests the proposed bill is about conducting surveillance to combat terrorism.

During a Parliamentary committee hearing on proposed legislation, police commissioner Ian Stewart said law enforcement would remotely install spy software on connected devices during a declared emergency when the life, health or safety of a person may be in danger.

“It is not outside the realm that, if you think about the connected home that we now look at quite regularly where people have their security systems, their CCTV systems and their computerised refrigerator all hooked up wirelessly, you could actually turn someone’s fridge into a listening device,” he said, according to the Brisbane Times.

“This is the type of challenge that law enforcement is facing in trying to keep pace with events and premises where terrorists may be planning, they may be gathering to discuss deployment in a tactical way and they may be building devices in that place.

“All of that is taken into account by these new proposed laws.”

While there was no examples of where the Counter-Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment bill have been required in recent years, Mr Stewart believes its still important.

Although the nature of terrorism in Australia would pose challenges for the bill, with the police commissioner admitting low-tech violence involving knives, vehicles, firearms or improvised explosive devices were the most likely attacks we would face.

“The threat of a low-tech terrorist organisation-inspired attack is exponentially harder to detect and disrupt,” he said.

“This is further exacerbated through their use of encryption and anonymising tools to make their use of the internet and social media invisible to intelligence and law enforcement agencies.”

The Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee is considering the bill, which is due to report by August 11.

Do you agree with the proposed bill? Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.