International Civil Liberties and Technology Coalition Urges Australian Parliament To Amend Its Dangerous Encryption Law
Press Release
Feb. 21, 2019
Today, an international civil liberties and technology coalition urged the Australian Parliament to amend its new encryption law to minimize the threats that the law poses to cybersecurity, privacy, and freedom of expression. The international coalition of 36 civil society organizations, technology companies and trade associations filed comments with the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS), which is conducting a review of the new Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 that Parliament enacted on December 6, 2018.
The Assistance and Access Act 2018 provides the Australian government with expansive powers that pose serious risks to the cybersecurity and fundamental human rights of people around the world. Prior to enactment of the law, New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) submitted three rounds of coalition comments on behalf of an international coalition of civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations. The final set, filed in November, outlined amendments that would have ameliorated some of the coalition’s most significant concerns. The comments filed today note that the amendments Parliament adopted when it passed the law in December provided some improvements, but the comments then explain how the coalition’s “most fundamental concerns with the legislation still remain unaddressed.”
In particular, the international civil liberties and technology coalition comments filed today call for amendments that would:
- Narrow the technical assistance notice and technical capability notice authorities in order to limit the government’s powers and minimize the threats posed to cybersecurity;
- Provide for more robust judicial and public oversight of the government’s use of these new tools, including requiring prior judicial approval and annual reporting;
- Loosen the non-disclosure requirements of the law, including protecting the rights of security researchers and software engineers whose work may otherwise be chilled; and
- Limit the definition of “designated communications providers” who are subject to the law.
The following quote can be attributed to Sharon Bradford Franklin, Director of Surveillance & Cybersecurity Policy, New America’s Open Technology Institute:
“We urge the Australian Parliament to take seriously this opportunity to amend the dangerous encryption law that it rushed through in December. The broad surveillance tools created by the Assistance and Access Act 2018 should be reined in, to avoid the risk that they could be used to authorize government demands that providers weaken the security features of their products. Our international civil liberties and technology coalition calls on Parliament to act now to protect the digital security and human rights of Australians and other technology users around the globe.”
The comments submitted today will be available after the PJCIS has confirmed receipt and authorized publication, per the Committee’s procedures for publication of submissions. Update 2/25: The comments are now available here.
The international civil liberties and technology coalition joining the comments is comprised of:
Civil Society Organizations:
Access Now
Blueprint for Free Speech
Center for Democracy & Technology
Constitutional Alliance
CryptoAUSTRALIA
Defending Rights & Dissent
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Engine
Enjambre Digital
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Government Accountability Project
Human Rights Watch
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
Linux Australia Inc.
New America’s Open Technology Institute
Open Rights Group
Privacy International
Restore The Fourth, Inc.
Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic
TechFreedom
X-Lab
World Privacy Forum
Technology Companies and Trade Associations:
ACT | The App Association
Amazon
Apple
Cloudflare
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Internet Association
Microsoft
Reform Government Surveillance (RGS is a coalition of technology companies)
Startpage.com
Tenable
See the September 9, 2018 coalition comments from 31 civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations, that OTI submitted on the original Exposure Draft of the bill here.
See the October 11, 2018 coalition comments from 38 civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations, that OTI submitted to the PJCIS inquiry here.
See the November 21, 2018 supplemental coalition comments from 29 civil society organizations, technology companies, and trade associations, that OTI submitted to the PJCIS inquiry here.