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While Everyone Was Distracted By Strawberries, Peter Dutton Introduced Laws To Snoop On Your Private Chats
Home affairs minister Peter Dutton has been accused of rushing legislation that tech companies say could have the effect of weakening encryption, privacy and security of all Australians.
Dutton rushes into parliament anti-encryption powers for WA Police, CCC
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has rushed into parliament a bill which would grant the WA Police Force and Corruption and Crime Commission broad powers to force technology companies to give it access to encrypted communications.
Edward Snowden on Protecting Activists Against Surveillance
People generally associate the word radical with extreme. But I prefer to think of the word in reference to its Latin origin: radix, the root of the issue. My friend Malkia Cyril is a radical in the truest sense of the word.
Encryption bill ready for House
The federal government’s controversial anti-encryption bill has been given the green light to be introduced to Parliament just a week after the submissions deadline for its consultation period closed, in a move branded “simply outrageous” by civil and digital rights groups.
My Health Record: big pharma can apply to access data
Pharmaceutical companies will be allowed to apply for data from the controversial My Health Record system, a Senate committee hearing has been told.
Leave no dark corner
China is building a digital dictatorship to exert control over its 1.4 billion citizens. For some, "social credit" will bring privileges — for others, punishment. Dandan Fan is very much the modern Chinese woman.
My Health Record: 900,000 Australians have opted out of database, Senate inquiry told
Related Story: My Health confusion — how is a privacy breach defined anyway? Related Story: My Health Record opt-out period begins, but privacy concerns remain Related Story: Government bows to pressure over My Health Record privacy concerns The number of Australians who have opted out o
Apple CEO Tim Cook pens open letter to FBI: We will not build a backdoor into iPhone, not even to investigate terrorists
In "A Message to Our Customers" posted on Apple's website, CEO Tim Cook declared the company's intention to fight the federal government's request to hack users in response to the recent mass-killing in San Bernardino, California.
Facebook is shaping public discourse. We need to understand how
At a hearing last week in Washington, senators and executives from Facebook and Twitter wrestled with the existential question of our time: how do we prevent Silicon Valley’s signature creation – social media – from tearing the country apart? Few answers emerged, but several senators express
The EU has passed Article 13, but Europe's meme war is far from over
The European Parliament has voted to pass the new EU Copyright Directive. This is when things get messy. Over the last few months, the crucial vote had been portrayed as a decisive battle over the future of the internet as we know it.
Tech giants say public at risk from proposed encryption laws
Tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter have lodged a formal submission criticising the Federal Government's approach to encrypted messaging.
Digital rights groups call for government to scrap surveillance bill
A coalition of digital rights groups has called for the government’s draft surveillance bill to be scrapped wholesale, saying that it “effectively enacts insecurity by design” and will create “extremely broad powers with almost no oversight without any substantive justification”.
My Health Record lets down the patients who could use it the most
It seemed like such a good idea: a digital vault for all of our health records accessible by a variety of healthcare providers.
How the gov's data encryption laws will affect you
With the government’s anti-encryption laws now beyond public scrutiny, here’s what is on the table, and what we can expect. On July 14 last year, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the government wanted the power to access people’s encrypted messages.
What It’s Like to Wallow in Your Own Facebook Data
I found my way to the Download Your Information tool in late March, soon after a whistle-blower revealed that the political-consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had gathered information about tens of millions of Facebook users.
Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter slam federal government's decryption laws
Technology giants Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter say the government's planned new cyber security laws would leave Australians vulnerable to cyber attacks and be detrimental for public security and the economy.
US tech groups hit out at Australian data bill
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'Right to be forgotten' could threaten global free speech, say NGOs
The so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ online is in danger of being transformed into a tool of global censorship through a test case at the European court of justice (ECJ) this week, free speech organisations are warning.
Cyber surveillance
Proposed legislation that would allow Australia's intelligence agencies to decrypt digital information is a serious case of overreach according to Digital Rights Watch.
IBM Used NYPD Surveillance Footage to Develop Technology That Lets Police Search by Skin Color
In the decade after the 9/11 attacks, the New York City Police Department moved to put millions of New Yorkers under constant watch.
In the Digital Era, Democracy Needs Hackers
Changing this view requires a high level of digital literacy, and in Canada, digital literacy initiatives are of relatively low priority and met with low expectations. Specifically, these programs are designed to address the digital divide.
What the Access and Assistance Bill is and what we are going to do about it – Defend Encryption.
It allows law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Australia to force organisations and individual technologists to provide access to encrypted data and communications, and punish them with fines or imprisonment if they won’t do it, or if they talk about it.
Oh for fuck's sake, not this fucking bullshit again (cryptography edition)
America, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and Australia are in a surveillance alliance called The Five Eyes, through which they share much of their illegally harvested surveillance data.
Chelsea Manning and the rise of 'big data' whistleblowing in the digital age
Chelsea Manning will appear via video link at events in Brisbane and Melbourne this month – as the Australian government refuses to provide her a visa.
Chelsea Manning ban: Rights groups accuse government of silencing 'important voice'
Human rights groups have blasted the government's decision to prevent convicted US whistleblower Chelsea Manning from entering Australia.
Honest Government Ad Freaks Us Out About Anti-Encryption Laws
The latest Juice Media government satire video has landed! This time it is taking aim at the proposed Assistance and Access Bill that would allow law enforcement and security agencies to get around data encryption on personal devices without judicial oversight.
When AI meets your shopping experience it knows what you buy – and what you ought to buy
Whether you do your shopping online or in store, your retail experience is the latest battleground for the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning revolution.
In encryption wars, it can be a matter of life or death
Imagine this: Australia's police and intelligence agencies, acting on multiple anonymous tips, have identified a plot to set off a bomb in the CBD some time in the next 24 hours.
Australian Encryption Debate – Closer to Home Than You Might Think
Last week, a global alliance of 76 organizations, companies, and individuals urged Australian officials to refrain from requiring technology companies to weaken the security of their products and services by building in backdoors to facilitate law enforcement access.
US and intelligence allies take aim at tech companies over encryption
When the FBI broke into the iPhone of a terrorist linked to the San Bernardino shooting in 2016, it kicked off a global debate over encryption and privacy.
Five Eyes governments get even tougher on encryption
"The governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are committed to personal rights and privacy, and support the role of encryption in protecting those rights," began a document agreed to last week. Sounds good. But wait.
Five-Eyes nations to force encryption backdoors
The governments of Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand have made the strongest statement yet that they intend to force technology providers to provide lawful access to users' encrypted communications.
Chelsea Manning to miss Opera House appearance
Controversial whistleblower Chelsea Manning will miss her scheduled appearance at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday due to ongoing doubts about the fate of her Australian visa.
Why is Chelsea Manning Being Banned from Entering Australia?
Australia has reportedly banned American military whistleblower Chelsea Manning from entering the country, in a move that activists have described as a stunt to impress President Donald Trump. Manning, 30, had been due to travel to Sydney to speak at the city’s famous opera house this weekend.
Mum ‘insulted and intimidated’ after shoplifting suspicion
A loyal Kmart customer was seeing red after she came under suspicion of shoplifting due to, she says she was told, "facial recognition technology" - despite having a valid receipt. Suburban mum Tracey said she felt "insulted and intimidated" after trying to get a refund on two unworn jumpers.
Franken-algorithms: the deadly consequences of unpredictable code
The death of a woman hit by a self-driving car highlights an unfolding technological crisis, as code piled on code creates ‘a universe no one fully understands’ by The 18th of March 2018, was the day tech insiders had been dreading.
Researchers find way to spy on remote screens—through the webcam mic
Ever wonder what the people on the other end of a Hangouts session are really looking at on their screens? With a little help from machine learning, you might be able to take a peek over their shoulders, based on research published at the CRYPTO 2018 conference in Santa Barbara last week.
Trust Us, We’re Secretly Working for a Foreign Government: How Australia’s Proposed Surveillance Laws Will Break The Trust Tech Depends On
In the last few years, we’ve discovered just how much trust — whether we like it or not — we have all been obliged to place in modern technology.
Lax security culture in hospitals could affect My Health Record privacy, insiders fear
Healthcare workers say existing concerns about patient privacy are likely to extend to My Health Record. But experts have claimed this also raises the risk of inappropriate access.
No backdoors for Australian encryption, just a riddling of ratholes
When Australian's former favourite Attorney-General Senator George Brandis QC said in mid-2017 that encrypted messaging was "impeding lawful access to the content of communications", fears of a government-mandated backdoor in encryption systems soon erupted.
Tech giants attack new tech surveillance laws
New laws that could compel global technology companies to assist Australian spy agencies and police have been strongly criticised by an industry group representing Facebook, Google and Twitter, among others.
Toward defining privacy expectations in an age of oversharing
What assurances of privacy do we have in this digital age? Until this year, the quick answer was: effectively none. We share personal data with companies, who in turn share it with other companies and the government, with few if any legal means of individual redress or control.
Biometrics: Govt plays down concerns over mass surveillance, private-sector access
Officials from the Department of Home Affairs have sought to assuage concerns that a proposed national facial recognition service could lay the basis for mass surveillance.
We underestimate the threat of facial recognition technology at our peril
On Friday, the identity matching services bill will be discussed at a hearing by the parliamentary intelligence and security committee. It has serious implications for human rights.
Govt report reveals cost of data retention for Australia’s telcos
As of the end of FY17, Australian telecommunications providers had incurred more than $176 million in capital costs related to complying with the government’s mandatory data retention regime.
Data for sale: The woman who turned herself into a corporation
Related Story: Your cat is telling people where you live and Apple knows when you last worked out Related Story: The truth about targeting: Does Facebook know more than it lets on? Related Story: Your smart device could be used against you in court If you're using social media, making purch
The government is ratcheting up its surveillance powers. But we can stop this
The good news is, the war on maths is postponed, because maths won. The government appears to have given up on its ambition of undermining the global encryption standards that underpin secure communications on the internet.
Google Censorship Plan Is “Not Right” and “Stupid,” Says Former Google Head of Free Expression
Google’s former head of free expression issues in Asia has slammed the internet giant’s plan to launch a censored search engine in China, calling it a “stupid move” that would violate widely held human rights principles.
When's a backdoor not a backdoor? When the Oz government says it isn't
Australia's promised “not-a-backdoor” crypto-busting bill is out and the government has kept it's word - it doesn't want a backdoor, just the keys to the front one.