Govt to introduce decryption law soon

The federal government will soon introduce draft legislation that would empower law enforcement agencies to force telecoms operators and multinational technology companies to allow them access to encrypted data of suspected criminals and terrorists.

The government announced in July that it plans to introduce legislation that would force these companies to assist law enforcement in accessing encrypted messages, but has yet to divulge the technical details of how this would be possible.

Cyber Security Minister Angus Taylor told the ABC that a draft of the new law will be released for public consultation in the next few weeks.

Taylor said the law will mark an attempt to bring current law enforcement powers up to date with the modern era.

He said law enforcement agencies can already compel telecommunications operators to allow them to access the content of phone conversations of suspected criminals, and it is “not appropriate” to have a world where analog data can be accessed in this way but digital data can not.

But he insisted that the government will not be attempting to force companies to install a back door into their apps or equipment, and that the surveillance capabilities can be introduced without weakening the encryption used by the companies.

Macquarie Government Managing Director Aidan Tudehope said the company supports the decryption initiative, and echoed Taylor’s suggestion that the law is nothing more than a modernisation of existing intercept legislation.

“The principle of requiring lawful intercept of telephone calls is not new. Telecommunications companies have been required to do this for years, within a carefully crafted set of rules,” he said.

“With appropriate oversight and compliance requirements, the extension of this legislation to cover encrypted data on mobile devices should not be seen as impinging on civil liberties but as a necessary modernisation of a set of tools to address — and prevent — illegal behaviour that threatens our community.”

But he acknowledged that technical and privacy issues must be addressed during the discussion over the content of the legislation.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/md3d

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