Apple to Australia: This is no time to weaken encryption; access only for ‘good guys’ is a false premise

“Apple has filed its formal opposition to a new bill currently being proposed by the Australian government that critics say would weaken encryption,” Cyrus Farivar reports for Ars Technica. “If it passes, the ‘Assistance and Access Bill 2018’ would create a new type of warrant that would allow what governments often call ‘lawful access’ to thwart encryption, something that the former Australian attorney general proposed last year.”
“The California company said in a filing provided to reporters on Friday that the proposal was flawed,” Farivar reports. “‘This is no time to weaken encryption,’ the company wrote. ‘There is profound risk of making criminals’ jobs easier, not harder. Increasingly stronger — not weaker — encryption is the best way to protect against these threats.'”
“‘Some suggest that exceptions can be made, and access to encrypted data could be created just for only those sworn to uphold the public good,’ Apple continued,” Farivar reports. “‘That is a false premise. Encryption is simply math. Any process that weakens the mathematical models that protect user data for anyone will by extension weaken the protections for everyone. It would be wrong to weaken security for millions of law-abiding customers in order to investigate the very few who pose a threat.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, the Aussies file the ill-considered “Assistance and Access Bill 2018” into the bin where it belongs.
Again, encryption is binary; it’s either on or off. You cannot have both. You either have privacy via full encryption or you don’t by forcing back doors upon Apple or anybody else. It’s all or nothing. — MacDailyNews, March 8, 2017
SEE ALSO:
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