The Australian government is pushing ahead with controversial legislation it says will create “back doors” into encrypted communication services – but still can’t say when it will introduce the bill.
After originally aiming to have the legislation before parliament in the first quarter of this year, the government has delayed its introduction. A spokesman for the acting attorney general, Marise Payne, would only say it was in “the advanced stages of development”.
“The government is continuing to consult with key stakeholders,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The former attorney general George Brandis first floated the idea mid last year, in response to law enforcement frustrations that encrypted communication services, which include popular apps such as Whatsapp, Wickr, iMessage and even Snapchat, remained out of their reach.
The legislation had been planned for November last year, before it was pushed to the first quarter of this year. It has once again been delayed.
Typically, messages and data sent within these services, which senior government ministers themselves have admitted to using, disappear after being read or remain impervious to decryption efforts by third parties.
The government’s efforts to legislate to allow access, through what it has previously termed a “back door” for its authorities and agencies, have been frustrated by the companies’ reluctance to allow government interference.
Labor, which has typically supported the government in matters of national security, remains sceptical additional legislation of this nature is practical.
“Labor will continue to work with the government to put in place practical national security measures, that are fit for purpose and effectively protect Australia and our community,” acting shadow attorney general Brendan O’Connor said.
“It was clear, however, when this idea was first floated last year that the government had significant work to do in making any proposed legislation in this area workable,” he said.
“If it is to proceed, Labor calls on the government to release an exposure draft of this legislation, to allow for proper consultation. This is important given the complexities around this novel area of lawmaking.”
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said the whole concept was laughable.
“Once the government has a back door into encrypted devices and platforms, everybody has a back door into encrypted devices and platforms,” he said.
“That has been proven over and over again. Once it is created, somebody gets in. I wouldn’t trust a government that can’t keep Medicare information protected to be inserting a back door into a tin shed.
“So I certainly wouldn’t be trusting them to do something as serious as this.”
In July last year, Australian federal police deputy commissioner Mike Phelan said “the vast majority” of investigations now involved some sort of encryption, but the “legislation has not yet kept pace with technology”.
In 2016, then-US president Barack Obama withheld White House support for legislation that would have allowed courts to force encryption companies, which include Apple and Google, to allow access.
The UK government is also examining ways it can force access to encrypted services, as part of its own wider national security push.