[AusNOG] Assistance and Access Bill moves to PJCIS

[Mark Newton]

On Nov 23, 2018, at 4:46 PM, Robert Hudson <hudrob at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 at 14:47, Paul Brooks <pbrooks-ausnog at layer10.com.au <mailto:pbrooks-ausnog at layer10.com.au>> wrote:
> In theory no - this bill doesn't weaken encryption, and explicitly doesn't allow any
> changes that would weaken encryption.
> 
> They say that - but I don't believe them.  I don't think they even understand what they're suggesting (or if they do understand, they're relying on others not understanding, or not caring). 

I think it’s dangerous to assume they don’t know what they’re asking for.

MPs probably don’t know, that’s true. But they aren’t the source of these Bills: No has ever climbed out of bed in the morning and thought, “Y’know what ASD needs? Unencrypted access to SnapChat. Let’s make it happen.”

MPs also aren’t in charge. PJCIS reliably decides whatever the bloody-hell ASIO and ASD want them to decide. The belief that there are a bunch of level-headed independent-minded politicians making decisions is crazy, there’s never been any evidence that that’s true.

These Bills are drafted by the intelligence agencies themselves, and they know precisely what they’re demanding, they know precisely what the flow-on effects will be, and they’ve judged that for their own purposes, the cost/benefit analysis works in their favor.

The possibility that the cost/benefit analysis works against other people is also well understood, but they choose to not distract the argument by engaging on that point. Bring it up as much as you like, they just ignore it and talk past it.

For the last decade, there have been arguments about this stuff that have been based on the belief that the Government is too dumb to know what it’s asking for, and that reason will prevail if we just explain it to them with the facts.

In case nobody’s noticed, that approach hasn’t worked, and there’s no indication that it will ever work.

This community has spent years wasting its time by communicating facts to them that they already know, and don’t care about.

They also don’t care about compromises: If you give them 50% of what they want, they’ll come back 18 months later and demand the other 50%. That’s how they’ve always worked (cf: data retention: The AA Bill is the grab bag of stuff the A-G couldn’t ask for last time. And if they don’t get it all this time, they’ll be back in 2021 for the next tranche)

Victory on these matters will never be won by having an argument based on the assumption that they need experts to explain facts and technology to them. The only way victory will be achieved is politically: There needs to be blowback, asking for more will need to cause them pain before they’ll stop.

  - mark


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