By TruePublica: This article was first published
in August 2015. What is interesting here is how far ‘mission creep’ has
enabled Britain to go further than ever before when it comes to the
destruction of privacy. It has only just been revealed that the Five
Eyes alliance (UK, USA, Aus, NZ and Can), dedicated to a global “collect-it-all” surveillance
task, has issued what they like to term as a memorandum, demanding that
tech companies build complete backdoor access for states to access
users’ encrypted data or face measures that will force companies to
comply.
The memo was
very quietly released with no media coverage last week by the
Australian Department of Home Affairs, which essentially demanded that
tech providers “create customized solutions, tailored to their
individual system architectures that are capable of meeting lawful
access requirements.” In other words, let the state snoop on anything
including encryption or you’re breaking the law. And to be absolutely
precise on the matter, this is not a law – it’s a decree. That means the
state will use bullying and intimidation and not the rule of law
through the courts to get its way. The memo was reportedly released
after ministers for the intelligence agencies of the Five Eyes nations met on Australia’s Gold Coast last week.
As for the reasons why privacy is so important – well just look
at the dreadful record of the UK government with data. (This single list
shows government agencies lost the private details of over 30 million individuals
– in 30 incidents, many containing highly sensitive and very personal
information) used by hackers to intimidate, blackmail and thieve.
It’s truly shocking. Add the fact that security experts of these backdoor access proposals have stated time and time again that
there is no workable way to create a “secure backdoor” that would not
be vulnerable by hackers and the government then becomes your enemy.
