Current Events > Does anyone from Australia know if that anti-encryption bill might die?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I read last week that the vote is scheduled for next Friday, and I've been reading that strong opposition to the bill is springing up. That gives me some hope that it might not pass, but a week from now isn't a very long time. I'm not from Australia myself, but you can bet the US, UK, New Zealand, and Canada will be getting versions of this bill if it succeeds. I can't abide the thought that all public communications will be made insecure, or that back doors and spyware will be installed secretly on all manner of personal devices en masse simply to try and catch the few serious criminals police otherwise miss. Utterly absurd.

I'm going to bump this just once.

You say that like Britain doesn't already have its own version.
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Funkydog posted...

You say that like Britain doesn't already have its own version.

While the British Investigatory Powers Act is unfortunate, this new Australian legislation would give the police and security agencies the power to demand any tech company install a backdoor for their use in any software for any length of time, secretly. That includes encryption. This is a step above what the UK has, and even though it hasn't passed yet, Australia is already encouraging other nations to prepare similar legislation.

i would be surprised if it survived, both google and facebook (along with a few other companies) are trying their best to fight it. i dislike both companies for online privacy in general but for killing some bad legislation with extreme privacy implications they seem alright.
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Kombucha posted...

i would be surprised if it survived, both google and facebook (along with a few other companies) are trying their best to fight it. i dislike both companies for online privacy in general but for killing some bad legislation with extreme privacy implications they seem alright.

I'd heard that Apple opposes the bill and sent a strongly-worded letter to the government, but in the current political climate with so many forces pushing for it, I'm still afraid it will pass and set a precedent for the rest of the Western world.