Four global tech giants — Facebook Inc, Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com Inc — plan to oppose an Australian law that would require them to provide access to private encrypted data linked to suspected illegal activities, an industry lobby group said yesterday.
Australia in August proposed fines of up to A$10 million (US$7.2 million) for institutions and prison terms for individuals who do not comply with a court request to give authorities access to private data.
The government has said the proposed law is needed amid a heightened risk of terror attacks.
Seen as test case as other nations explore similar laws, Facebook, Alphabet, Apple and Amazon are to jointly lobby lawmakers to amend the bill ahead of a parliamentary vote expected in a few weeks.
“Any kind of attempt by interception agencies, as they are called in the bill, to create tools to weaken encryption is a huge risk to our digital security,” Alliance for a Safe and Secure Internet spokeswoman Lizzie O’Shea said.
The four companies had confirmed their participation in the lobbying effort, she said.
A spokeswoman for Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton, who is overseeing the legislation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the bill becomes law, Australia would be one of the first nations to impose broad access requirements on technology companies, though others are poised to follow.
The so-called Five Eyes nations, which share intelligence, said last month they would demand access to encrypted e-mails, text messages and voice communications through legislation.
The Five Eyes intelligence network, comprised of the US, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, have each repeatedly warned national security was at risk as authorities are unable to monitor communication of suspects.
Technology companies have strongly opposed efforts to create what they see as a back-door to user’s data, a stand-off that was propelled into the public arena by Apple’s refusal to unlock an iPhone used by an attacker in a 2015 shooting in California.
Frustrated by the deadlock, many countries are moving ahead with legislation, with New Zealand the latest to tighten oversight over access to online communication.
New Zealand on Tuesday said customs officers now have the authority to compel visitors to hand over passwords for their electronic devices. Tourists who refuse could face fines of NZ$5,000 (US$3,292).
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS