The New Zealand Government, its Five Eyes security partners plus India and Japan want companies like Facebook to release encrypted data when requested. The reason: to curb online crime.

Signatories from each country have declared their support for end-to-end encryption - but only if they have a way to legally access that information.

Encryption is an ‘existential anchor of trust in the digital world', and countries shouldn't try to find ways to exploit that security, they say.

They would like to see legal back doors for law enforcement to use to clamp down on illegal content - so long as these back doors have the appropriate safeguards and oversight.

New Zealand's Minister for Justice Andrew Little says while encryption plays an important role in protecting personal data it has another side: it is used to hide illicit material such as child pornography or terror communication.

Little - who is also the Minister responsible for both the GCSB and SIS - says the New Zealand government wants to co-operate with tech companies.

In common with his Five Eyes, Indian and Japanese cohorts, he cites research from the WePROTECT Global Alliance - a coalition of countries, tech firms and civil society firms.

WePROTECT claims public social media and communications platforms are the most-used ways of grooming and meeting children online.

In 2018, WePROTECT says the US National Center of Missing and Exploited Children found Facebook Messenger was used in almost 12 million of the 18.4 million reports of child sexual abuse material.

"Measures to increase privacy - including end-to-end encryption - should not come at the expense of children's safety," the signatories state.

They think the industry should reconsider encryption that blocks any kind of legal access to content.

Furthermore, they believe technology companies and service providers should take responsibility for detecting and responding to violations, especially regarding the most serious illegal content like exploitation and abuse, violent crime, and terrorist activities.

They say encryption undermines these responsibilities and prevents law enforcement from accessing content in cases where it is lawful and necessary.

Little explains how the backdoor policy would work.

"Governments would demonstrate there is a reasonable cause to suspect there has been criminal offending, so the control is still left in the platform owners, but it gives enforcement authorities the ability to chase up and investigate some of the most heinous criminal offending we've ever seen."

However, these explanations don't impress Council of Civil Liberties chair Thomas Beagle.

He says the Government's plea for more access is contradictory and dangerous and privacy will be at stake.

"It talks about the value of encryption - secure information, private conversations, doing things free from repressive governments - and then it talks about how they need to stop all that because they need to access it to stop crime."

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• IT Brief
• Image: RNZ

There was widespread support in parliament at the first reading stage of the Countering Terrorist Fighters Legislation Bill which passed its first reading on Tuesday by 107 votes to 14.

There is some concern being expressed however at the limited time available for the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee to hear submissions.

Marama Fox, Maori Party co-leader, says that her party which supported the first reading of the bill is "appalled by the indecent haste that this important piece of legislation is tracking through the law-making process."

The committee, which is hearing submissions under urgency, will report back to Parliament next Tuesday.

The Government wants the bill passed before the House rises for Christmas on 11 December.

The Law Society, the Privacy Commission and the Human Rights Commission have voiced concerns about some aspects of the Bill.

But Chris Finlayson, the Minister in Charge of the SIS, told Radio New Zealand's Morning Report the measures were to tackle a fast-moving situation.

"This is an interim bill to deal with the quickly emerging problem of foreign terrorist fighters," he said.

"We're basically doing what the UN Security Council Resolution 2178 asked all member countries to do - take steps to stop people leaving our shores and going and fighting.

"The full review of all security legislation will be held next year ... People will have an opportunity to make submissions on every piece of legislation."

On behalf of the Law Society, Sir Geoffrey Palmer has told the select committee that MPs needed more time to consider the bill.

"Legislation that is rushed, where there is insufficient time to consider its detail, often ends up missing its target or actually causing unexpected consequences," he said.

"The proposed laws substantially interfered with, and reduced, human rights and individual liberties."

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• nznewyahoo.com
• Image: Radio New Zealand