''In the Joh era Special Branch used to store photos in a vast database and it sounds like that's what's happening now, especially with extra police powers that allow people to be checked on our streets for no reason. That is the conduct of an authoritarian government and we surely do not want to live in a police state.''

Environmentalist Dayne Pratzky of Chinchilla on the Western Downs said police photographed him at protests against coal-seam gas mining twice recently, once in Brisbane and once at Roma. ''A woman told me they were taking shots of me at Parliament House [in Brisbane] so I asked the police and they confirmed it. I feel like we have no rights; if we speak out we're labelled eco-terrorists. They've taken away our property rights with the mining and now they're trying to take away our freedom of speech.''

Friends of the Earth spokesman and retired university lecturer Drew Hutton said he noticed a man in a suit take his photo when he arrived at the Parliament House protest. ''He was standing with security guards and I thought he was one of them so I told him to f--- off,'' he said. ''He said to me, 'You better be careful or I'll arrest you' and he showed me his badge. I said I don't care if you're a cop or not, you shouldn't be taking photos of people at a lawful protest.''

Farmer Lee McNicholl of Dulacca on the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane, said he attended a protest against coal-seam gas mining two weeks ago. He said a police officer was asking protesters for their names and contact numbers. ''I said to him, 'That's very unusual.' But he said that his officer-in-charge wanted them in case he needed to contact them,'' Mr McNicholl said. ''I don't think my photo was taken and I don't think it's necessary for that to happen at a lawful assembly.''

A spokesman for the Queensland Police Service would not comment on whether police officers were taking photos of protesters at two pro-Julian Assange rallies in Brisbane last week ''for operational reasons''.