Tech companies could face fines of up to A$10 million (US$7.3 million) if they fail to hand over customer information or data to Australian police under tough laws unveiled yesterday.
The Australian government is updating its communications laws to compel local and international providers to cooperate with law enforcement agencies, saying that criminals have been using technology, including encryption, to hide their activities.
The legislation, first canvassed by Canberra last year, would take into account privacy concerns by “expressly” preventing the weakening of encryption or the introduction of so-called back doors, Australian Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity Angus Taylor said.
Over the past year, about 200 operations involving serious criminal and terrorism-related investigations were negatively affected by current laws, Taylor said.
“We know that more than 90 percent of data lawfully intercepted by the Australian Federal Police now uses some form of encryption,” he said in a statement. “We must ensure our laws reflect the rapid take-up of secure online communications by those who seek to do us harm.”
The news laws have been developed in consultation with the tech and communications industries, Taylor said, adding that the government did not want to “break the encryption systems” of companies.
“[Law enforcement] agencies are convinced we can get the balance right here,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“We are only asking them to do what they are capable of doing. We are not asking them to create vulnerabilities in their systems that will reduce the security, because we know we need high levels of security in our communications,” he added.
The type of help that could be requested by Canberra would include asking a provider to remove electronic protections, concealing covert operations by government agencies and helping with access to devices or services.
If companies do not comply with the requests, they would face fines of up to A$10 million, while individuals could be hit with penalties of up to A$50,000.
The requests can be challenged in court.
The draft legislation expands the obligations to assist investigators from domestic telecom businesses to encompass foreign companies, including any communications providers operating in Australia.
This could cover social media giants such as Facebook Inc, WhatsApp and gaming platforms with chat facilities.
The Digital Industry Group, which represents tech firms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter Inc and Oath Inc in Australia, said the providers were already working with police to respond to requests within existing laws and their terms of service.
Group managing director Nicole Buskiewicz called for “constructive dialogue” with Canberra over the adoption of surveillance laws that respect privacy and freedom of expression.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the