Hi Paul, Happy to have you link to our submission. I've thrown it up as an item on our website:
https://www.itpa.org.au/news/itpa-submission-assistance-and-access-bill-2018-australian-government-department-home-affairs/ Regards, Robert On Wed, 12 Sep 2018 at 09:48, Paul Brooks <pbrooks-aus...@layer10.com.au> wrote: > Thanks Rob. > Internet Australia's submission is at > https://internet.org.au/news/209-submission-internet-australia-s-submission-on-draft-assistance-and-access-bill > . > > We're also collating other submissions at this page to aid transparency, > in case the Department doesn't publish the collection themselves. > There are currently 6 other submissions linked there, with more to be > added: > > - - Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Internet Policy Research > Intiative > - - Internet Architecture Board > - - Chris Culnane and Vanessa Teague > - - Communications Alliance, Australian Information Industry > Association, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association > - - Mark Nottingham > - - Digital Rights Watch, Australia Privacy Foundation, Electronic > Fontiers Australia, Access Now, NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Future > Wise, Blueprint for Free Speech, Queensland Council for Civil Liberties > > All are well worth reading. > > The IAB didn't mince words - cherry picking selected paragraphs: " > > "While we normally do not review proposed legislation, we are concerned > that this proposal might have a serious and undesirable impact upon the > Internet and, taken as a model, the sum of similar legislation may result > in the fragmentation of the Internet. > ....as custodians of the Internet’s architecture, > we are required to take a global view. This approach, if applied > generally, would result in the > Internet’s privacy and security being the lowest common denominator > permitted by the actions taken > in myriad judicial contexts. From that perspective, this approach > drastically reduces trust in critical > Internet infrastructure and affects the long term health and viability of > the Internet. " > > > May we include the ITPA submission, or a link to the ITPA page, in that > collection? > > Paul (with Chair of Internet Australia hat on) > > On 12/09/2018 9:07 AM, Robert Hudson wrote: > > As per my comments in August, ITPA put forward the following comment on > the draft bill within the offiicial public comment window: > > "To whom it may concern, > > On behalf of the Information Technology Professionals Association (ITPA) > and its members, I am writing today to express a lack of support for "The > Access and Assistance Bill, 2018" as it currently stands. This bill should > not be introduced to Parliament in its current form, and certainly should > not be voted into law. > > ITPA and its members recognise the fact that encrypted communication is > one tool used by criminals to make it harder for law enforcement agencies > to discover and track their whereabouts, plans, and other details of crimes > they may have or be able to commit. We appreciate the fact that the > government is seeking ways to increase its ability to better prevent and > prosecute crime. But it is ITPA's position that the only real-life outcome > of "The Access and Assistance Bill 2018" will be a negative impact to the > individual privacy of Australian citizens, and that the proposed benefits > (allowing law-enforcement to prevent or prosecute crimes) will not be > realised. > > "The Access and Assistance Bill 2018" will not only fail to achieve its > stated aim (criminals will simply move to using encryption products not > covered by this bill - most of the tools currently used in this area are > not written by companies which are bound by this bill, and those which are > will simply be traded for tools produced outside of Australia's > jurisdiction), but it will result in a significant reduction of individual > privacy for law-abiding citizens. > > In addition to failing to achieve the desired goals, tools created under > this legislation to break or bypass the encryption created by commonly used > applications will almost certainly be misused by individuals in positions > of power within law-enforcement agencies, as we have already seen happen in > other areas of surveillance legislation such as the mandatory metadata > retention scheme. > > Further, it is certain that these tools will also become available to > people outside of legitimate law-enforcement agencies, and will be used as > a weapon against law-abiding citizens - the leaking of the list of > "blocked" sites under Internet filtering regimes of the past ( > https://www.smh.com.au/national/dentists-website-on-leaked-blacklist-20090319-93cl.html) > shows that secrets and artifacts (such as lists of websites, or access to > tools) can and do get leaked beyond the approved area of usage). > > "The Access and Assistance Bill 2018" also has issues of governance and > oversight which require adjustment before it could be supported. Although > there is still a requirement for warrants to be issued and a level of > judicial oversight, a political appointment (The Attorney General) holds > significant (and ultimate for short-term activities with post-activity > oversight) power within this legislation. It would be preferable to have a > politically independent body (an individual or organisation) to provide the > level of oversight and authority carried by the Attorney General in this > legislation to ensure that decisions are not made under the authority of > this bill for political purposes. > > If the government really wants to achieve better levels of policing and > crime prevention in areas of technology, we implore the government to > consult with the technology industry during the drafting phases of > legislation, rather than after the draft has been put together in such a > fashion as to be technically infeasible. ITPA would be more than willing > to be part of a consultation process to resolve issues with the currently > proposed legislation, or for any other legislation which requires technical > expertise to achieve success." > > On Wed, 15 Aug 2018 at 13:48, Robert Hudson <hud...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi Paul, >> >> On Wed, 15 Aug 2018 at 13:31, Paul Brooks <pbrooks-aus...@layer10.com.au> >> wrote: >> >>> Thanks Aftab for the plug - this is something that IA has been tracking >>> and meeting in Canberra with various Minister-types down over the past 6-9 >>> months, trying to determine what they were looking to do, and educate them >>> on the concerns. >>> This is data retention all over again. On one hand, as an ISP, if you >>> don't actually supply end-user devices and all the OTT messaging apps pass >>> through your network, there may not be much in this to concern. This Bill >>> is aimed at Samsung/Google/HTC/Oppo, and OTT service providers like Apple >>> iMessage, WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, etc. >>> They were quite insistent they would not be seeking to back-door >>> encryption, and as it happens, they were right! They just want to back-door >>> the entire device. And website, which is classed in there too. >>> >> >> The legislation is sufficiently vague as to allow pretty much anything >> the A-G thinks is reasonable at the time the A-G makes a request. >> >>> >>> If you're in Canberra on Monday night, we've got a number of people from >>> MIT Computer Science and Artificial Inelligence Labs (CSAIL) and other >>> experts that talk to USA's people, and tickets still available - From >>> 4:30pm, with free drinks provided afterwards. >>> >>> >>> https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/encryption-experts-session-evening-in-canberra-tickets-48911717263 >>> >> >> Canberra could be hard to attend from Sydney, but this one may be >> important enough for me to make the trip. >> >>> >>> >>> They're taking feedback/submissions/comments for 4 weeks only - is >>> anyone planning to submit some comment? >>> >> >> ITPA is looking to provide feedback. We'd be happy to work with other >> parties (individuals or organisations) to put up a joint response. >> >> Regards, >> >> Robert >> > >
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