Australia's Encryption-Busting Law Could Impact Global Privacy
Privacy advocates note that the Five Eyes have increasingly used euphemisms like "responsible encryption," implying some sort of balance. For example, Australia's new law has a section called "Limitations," which says, "Designated communications provider must not be requested or required to implement or build a systemic weakness or systemic vulnerability." For example, IEEE, the international professional engineering association, said unequivocally in a June position statement that, "Exceptional access mechanisms would create risks.Efforts to constrain strong encryption or introduce key escrow schemes into consumer products can have long-term negative effects on the privacy, security and civil liberties of the citizens so regulated." Privacy advocates say that Australia's new law has other problems, too, especially in its vagueness about when and how often investigators can make data requests. But the even deeper danger of Australia's new law, and the broader movement to enact backdoor-friendly legislation, is the logical extreme in which countries simply block access to technology that offers robust privacy and security protections to users.
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