A private body named ‘The Digital Industry Group’ representing tech companies Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Twitter has expressed its concern over a ‘Coalition bill’ which forces the companies to assist law enforcement agencies like ASIO(Australian Security Intelligence Organization) in decrypting private communications.
In simple terms, the tech companies are against a government-drafted bill brought into light last Tuesday which forces them to hand over a backdoor to their user communication.
As the bill grants the permission to the attorney general to technically permit spying agencies to intercept private communications, tech giants have expressed their concerns as it can lead to a phase where they start losing their valuable user base.
“If users lose trust, then either move to other platforms or switch to other relevant services which provides complete privacy to their communication,” said Nicole Buskiewicz, the Managing director to Digi Industry Group.
Nicole added to her statement that the government has no right to force companies to build systemic weakness or a systemic vulnerability, into communication modes- just to suffice its espionage tactics.
Agree that protecting the public is a priority to both governments and industry. But that also includes protecting the public’s privacy and data from attack said Ms. Buskiewicz.
Nicole says that the bill has/will show devastating implications for individuals, businesses, public safety and the broader economy.
Fergus Hanson, the head of international cyber policy at the Australia Strategic Institute said that the bill allows companies to introduce systemic vulnerabilities into user communication- all in the name of protecting the nation from terrorist forces. But at the same time, it should also protect the interests of the populace by not eroding their privacy.
Angus Taylor, the Minister for Cybersecurity, Australia said that encryption has directly impacted around 200 serious criminals and terrorism-related investigations in the past 12 months and so there needs to be a law which allows a backdoor to the government to intercept private communications- all to the betterment of the Australian Populace.
