Apple, other US tech giants denounce Australian 'anti-encryption' bill
Apple and a cadre of U.S. tech companies on Monday signed a letter condemning Australia's recent passage of a cybersecurity bill that bolsters law enforcement and government efforts to obtain access to encrypted messages.
Apple's Messages in iOS.
The Reform Government Surveillance, which includes Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter, is the latest tech consortium to voice opposition to Australia's "Assistance and Access Bill 2018," which flew through parliament last week.
According to a copy of the letter, seen by TechCrunch, the tech group called the bill "deeply flawed" and vowed to pressure Australia's government to "promptly address these flaws when it reconvenes."
"The new Australian law is deeply flawed, overly broad, and lacking in adequate independent oversight over the new authorities," the coalition said in a statement.
Like previous condemnations, many of which arrived after the bill's passage last Thursday, the Reform Government Surveillance claims the new mandate seeks to "undermine the cybersecurity, human rights, or the right to privacy of our users."
Pushed through on the last sitting day of parliament before summer break, the Assistance and Access Bill 2018 sets forth a number of guidelines for accessing secure communications in the wake of strengthening encryption standards. Australia is one of many countries seeking to strike a balance on encryption that provides both consumer protection and a clear path for national security operations.
At issue are requests for technical assistance that can, in some cases, compel private companies to decrypt customer communications. Of particular interest to tech firms are so-called technical capability notices, which critics argue grants law enforcement agencies and select government bodies the power to force the creation of backdoors into secure systems.
The requests and notices are served alongside a warrant, but typically come with a gag order. Further, failure to comply with a notice incurs a fine of A$10 million (about $7.2 million) for corporations.
Australia's government says it "has no interest in undermining systems that protect the fundamental security of communications," but tech firms like Apple argue the bill's language is too vague and could lead to abuse. For example, the bill says companies cannot be forced into implementing "systemic weaknesses" or "systemic vulnerabilities" as a result of a TAN, though said weaknesses and vulnerabilities are not narrowly defined.
A similar argument was proffered in a letter Apple submitted to the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in October.
The federal Labor party attempted to modify the legislation last week, but failed to succeed and allowed the bill to pass. Labor leaders vowed amendments will be reviewed when parliament reconvenes.
Apple's Messages in iOS.The Reform Government Surveillance, which includes Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter, is the latest tech consortium to voice opposition to Australia's "Assistance and Access Bill 2018," which flew through parliament last week.
According to a copy of the letter, seen by TechCrunch, the tech group called the bill "deeply flawed" and vowed to pressure Australia's government to "promptly address these flaws when it reconvenes."
"The new Australian law is deeply flawed, overly broad, and lacking in adequate independent oversight over the new authorities," the coalition said in a statement.
Like previous condemnations, many of which arrived after the bill's passage last Thursday, the Reform Government Surveillance claims the new mandate seeks to "undermine the cybersecurity, human rights, or the right to privacy of our users."
Pushed through on the last sitting day of parliament before summer break, the Assistance and Access Bill 2018 sets forth a number of guidelines for accessing secure communications in the wake of strengthening encryption standards. Australia is one of many countries seeking to strike a balance on encryption that provides both consumer protection and a clear path for national security operations.
At issue are requests for technical assistance that can, in some cases, compel private companies to decrypt customer communications. Of particular interest to tech firms are so-called technical capability notices, which critics argue grants law enforcement agencies and select government bodies the power to force the creation of backdoors into secure systems.
The requests and notices are served alongside a warrant, but typically come with a gag order. Further, failure to comply with a notice incurs a fine of A$10 million (about $7.2 million) for corporations.
Australia's government says it "has no interest in undermining systems that protect the fundamental security of communications," but tech firms like Apple argue the bill's language is too vague and could lead to abuse. For example, the bill says companies cannot be forced into implementing "systemic weaknesses" or "systemic vulnerabilities" as a result of a TAN, though said weaknesses and vulnerabilities are not narrowly defined.
A similar argument was proffered in a letter Apple submitted to the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in October.
The federal Labor party attempted to modify the legislation last week, but failed to succeed and allowed the bill to pass. Labor leaders vowed amendments will be reviewed when parliament reconvenes.
Comments
An act like that would raise awareness of what the political class has been up to. And let’s be honest, it isn’t about terrorists. They would just add an encryption layer and carry on terror.
This bill was about finding out which of us don’t agree with our betters.
Theatre. Political theatre. The ALP were always going to line up with the rest of the uniparty to support this bill.
Also contrary to other posters (on here, but also on other similar posts) Apple is a significant player in the Australian market, and that market is a significant source of revenue for the company as also reflected by the relatively high number of retail stores in Australia.
Apple does however have significant ability to affect change in legislation, especially as it is a large tax payer in the country, which earns it a place to petition the government about such matters.
We don't solve terrorism with backdoors and cyber-snooping. We solve terrorism by addressing the fundamental social inequalities that give rise to it.
heck it could even increase sales overall if done right.
Let’s not make 2019 like 1984. Hmm, sounds kinda like something I heard once before...
This is idiotic legislation no doubt, but this government is very keen on doubling down on all sorts of stupid shit. Don’t expect much of a change soon.
I suppose we could “solve terrorism” by banning governments and religions... Nope, that still wouldn’t do it.
I got it! Ban humanity. LOL
Their market presence and media ties is what gives them the strength to be heard, and they are. Loudly in most cases. Apple is the most powerful force in tech and wields massive economic clout. They'll make their case, much of it out of the public view.
they don't need to suspend phone sales. just those items in the phone that are being affected by this. so Australia gets to have no more iMessages. SMS will have to do. possibly no more iCloud or FaceTime either.
i mean they have, or at least had, phones in the Middle East with no FaceTime due to the legal requirement to pay some extra fee for providing such services. in Japan they at least used to have to make it impossible to mute the shutter sound on the camera due to laws. in China for a while there were no phones with wifi due to some law. iPhones were still quite popular in those areas. okay so most of the iPhones in china were grey market imports from the US but they were still popular.