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posted by janrinok on Friday April 13 2018, @04:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the governments-are-above-mathematics dept.

The Guardian reports that an "Australian bill to create back door into encrypted apps [is] in 'advanced stages.'" The Australian government is pushing ahead with controversial legislation it says will create "back doors" into encrypted communication services – but still can't say when it will introduce the bill.

After originally aiming to have the legislation before parliament in the first quarter of this year, the government has delayed its introduction. A spokesman for the acting attorney general, Marise Payne, would only say it was in "the advanced stages of development".

[...] "If it is to proceed, Labor calls on the government to release an exposure draft of this legislation, to allow for proper consultation. This is important given the complexities around this novel area of lawmaking."

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said the whole concept was laughable. "Once the government has a back door into encrypted devices and platforms, everybody has a back door into encrypted devices and platforms," he said.

"That has been proven over and over again. Once it is created, somebody gets in. I wouldn't trust a government that can't keep Medicare information protected to be inserting a back door into a tin shed.

"So I certainly wouldn't be trusting them to do something as serious as this."

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/13/australian-bill-to-create-back-door-into-encrypted-apps-in-advanced-stages


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  • (Score: 0, Troll) by fustakrakich on Friday April 13 2018, @05:37PM (2 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday April 13 2018, @05:37PM (#666537) Journal

    How could you possibly enforce this?

    The ISP will drop all packets containing 'unauthorized' encryption or any other unapproved communications. It's a trivial process. The ISP is the damage we are unable to route around at this time.

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    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Friday April 13 2018, @05:48PM (1 child)

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday April 13 2018, @05:48PM (#666543) Journal

    This, of course, means that binary data cannot be transmitted. Hex dumps cannot be transmitted. Assembler code cannot be transmitted. Source code for Langston's Ant cannot be transmitted.

    In fact, if I strictly interpret "I've got to be able to understand what what you're transmitting means", just about nothing can be transmitted. There's no real way to tell whether is encrypted using some particular protocol without decrypting it, or even whether something is encrypted. Noise cannot be eliminated in transmission, and it also can't be closely predicted. All you can do is set probabilistic bounds.

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    Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
    • (Score: 2, Funny) by fustakrakich on Friday April 13 2018, @06:34PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Friday April 13 2018, @06:34PM (#666578) Journal

      This, of course, means that binary data cannot be transmitted. Hex dumps cannot be transmitted. Assembler code cannot be transmitted. Source code for Langston's Ant cannot be transmitted.

      That's not true. You just have to fill out Form: SM69/FU in triplicate and fax it to your ISP, DEA, FBI, etc. You should receive a reply in four to six weeks. After which you will be scheduled for an interview with an agent, in Utah, at your own expense of course. Once you get the permit, you will take it to your local DMV to have it stamped, after you pass the written and driving test. Just another day in a bureaucrat's paradise.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..