Displaying items by tag: Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018

The Federal Government has presented a bill in Parliament that would give the AFP and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission three new warrants in order that they can handle serious criminal acts online.

The Australian Federal Police has told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that it has used technical assistance requests issued under the encryption law passed in December 2018 on three occasions in the financial year 2019-20, to obtain assistance from companies or individuals in breaking encryption to gain access to information needed for investigation of crimes.

The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Dr James Renwick, says in a 316-page review handed down on 30 June that, with a couple of exceptions, the encryption law, known as the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, passed by Australia in December 2018, is necessary.

The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Dr James Renwick, is likely to have suggested some changes to the encryption law passed by the government in 2018, in his review which was handed down on Monday.

The government's Independent National Security Legislation Monitor, Dr James Renwick, has indicated he would support the security appeals division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal having oversight of technical capability notices issued under the encryption law passed in 2018, and resolving any issue that could arise.

Changes to the federal encryption law which was passed in December 2018 will take nearly two years to be voted on, according to the current state of play which was made clear after the Australian Labor Party introduced a bill this week seeking to speed up adoption of the changes.

Another confrontation may be brewing between the FBI and Apple, after the US domestic intelligence agency asked the company to help decrypt data on two iPhones which belong to a man named Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani who is suspected of carrying out a shooting that killed three people at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida last month.

Two-fifths of the respondents to a survey about the encryption law passed by the Coalition Government last year say they have lost sales or other commercial opportunities as a result of the law being in place.

A year after it bent over backwards and voted to make the government's encryption bill law, the Australian Labor Party is attempting to paint itself as some kind of virtuous entity by introducing a bill to bring about amendments to that same law.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has slammed the Morrison Government over its tardiness in implementing amendments to the encryption law which was passed last year, saying Finance Minister Senator Mathias Cormann had agreed to do so, and has yet to keep his word nearly a year on.

ASD-certified Protected cloud provider Vault claims the export of its technology has been affected by perceptions about the encryption law which was passed by the Australian Parliament on 6 December last year.

The head of the Australian Information Industry Association, Ron Gauci, has sought an assurance from the re-elected Coalition Government that amendments to the encryption law, which was passed in December, will be adopted within its first 100 days of operation.

The compromise encryption bill drafted by the government and Labor demonstrates just one thing – that bullying pays off, the head of Internet Australia, Dr Paul Brooks, claims.

The Federal Government's encryption bill, which is up for debate and passage in Parliament at the time of writing (11am AEDT), still represents a threat to the cyber security of all Australians and a major risk for the future of Australia's IT industry and the livelihoods of Australians who work in that industry, Communications Alliance chief John Stanton has said.

The Federal Government must act to plug a "dangerous loophole" in its encryption bill before it is passed by Parliament before the end of Thursday, the chief executive of the lobby group Communications Alliance, John Stanton, has said.

There are few things in life which are predictable. Among them are the reaction of the Australian Labor Party to national security legislation.

The Federal Government says Labor's initial suggestions about passing a cut-down version of the encryption bill were not acceptable, and a compromise announced on Tuesday had removed some of Labor's demands.

The Federal Government and the Labor Party have reportedly reached a compromise on the encryption bill and it will clear Parliament before Thursday, the last sitting day for the year.

The Federal Government appears likely to bring its encryption bill up for debate in the lower house on Wednesday, just a day after the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security holds its final hearing on the draft legislation.

The push by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to bring the encryption bill to a vote before Parliament rises for the year is facing an obstacle, after Senate president Scott Ryan raised the possibility that powers in the bill could conflict with parliamentary privilege.