[AusNOG] Dutton decryption bill

[Paul Julian]

Hi Robert and Paul,
 
For the people that really want to make a difference there seems to be a good argument for joining a group or organisation that will represent them as a whole, I think this is good advice and I will be looking at the options for sure.
 
Thanks for the information and for the commitment.
 
Regards
Paul
 
From: Robert Hudson <hudrob at gmail.com> 
Sent: Thursday, 16 August 2018 1:20 PM
To: paul at buildingconnect.com.au
Cc: ausnog at lists.ausnog.net
Subject: Re: [AusNOG] Dutton decryption bill
 
Hi Paul,
 
We have already published our stance on this previously in press releases and our regular newsletter, and will be sending a formal response to the govt's invitation to do so.
 
That response is currently being formulated to ensure we cover all pertinent points, thus far (until we complete our reading of the mattter) being:
 
* The proposed laws are WAY too vague to start with, and contradictory at times in what is and isn't allowed, who and who is not allowed to access the data, etc
* There is a strong history already of misuse of power by government agencies/privileged individuals.
* This is over-reach by government with significant potential impact to law-abiding citizens
* There is no way to breach end-to-end asymmetric key encryption in the way they're talking without creating back-doors, compromising the encryption process or creating secondary back-channels
* The idea that the Australian government can enforce the law with parties based overseas where they are outside of the jurisdiction of our government or its treaty partners is laughable
* There is insufficient protection of process - the A-G gets to make the requests/notices, and the A-G gets to decide at the same time what's reasonable and what's not
* The criminals this is aimed at will simply move to using tools outside of the government's reach if they're even remotely competent (if they're not, surely this level of law is not required to catch them), meaning that the only people this will really impact will, again, be law-abiding citizens
* The likely next step when people start using tools outside of the government's control will be to mandate that only govt-controlled apps are used - meaning loss of functionality for law-abiding citizens, or unintentional criminal acts when they download and use something they don't realise is sanctioned.
 
There's probably (almost certainly) more.  I've got a full-time job outside of doing this, as do the rest of the ITPA board.  If (or anyone else reading this) has strong feelings/expertise in this area, we'd gladly look to work with you on our response.  Or hell, join and volunteer to help us with this - we represent ~18,000 associate members at this stage, and the bigger we get, the more our voice will resonate.
 
Regards,

Robert
 
On Thu, 16 Aug. 2018, 12:59 pm Paul Julian, <paul at buildingconnect.com.au> wrote:
Hi Robert,
 
I think it’s a perfectly valid point, so just out of interest what is ITPA’s plan to respond to this current situation ?
 
Regards
Paul
 
From: Robert Hudson <hudrob at gmail.com> 
Sent: Thursday, 16 August 2018 12:34 PM
To: paul at buildingconnect.com.au
Cc: Paul Wilkins <paulwilkins369 at gmail.com>; ausnog at lists.ausnog.net
Subject: Re: [AusNOG] Dutton decryption bill
 
On Thu, 16 Aug 2018 at 11:10, Paul Julian <paul at buildingconnect.com.au> wrote:
Hi Paul,
 
Where do you even start ?
I would love to be able to comment on these things properly but how do you structure a response that isn’t just a whinge and saying that it’s not fair and blah blah, it would need to offer alternatives or suggestions on how else this could be accomplished or why it shouldn’t be in the first place.
 
Apologies if this isn't considered appropriate on this list, but I think the point of joining representative organisations is important, especially on this topic.
 
Join a group like ITPA (it doesn't have to be ITPA, so this isn't "strictly" an ad - more a drive to get people participating in industry associations.  The more members we have, the stronger our voice.  We have commented strongly on this issue, and will continue to do so on this and other issues of importance to IT Professionals.
 
ITPA Associate membership is free.  Paid membership is less than the cost of a cup of coffee a week.
 
If not us, choose another representative organisation, and make sure your voice is heard.
 
If you (and others) don't, then things like Metadata Retention, breaking encryption, and goodness knows what they have up their sleeves next will continue to go through.
 
Regards,

Robert
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