Apple hits out at Australian anti-encryption law as community anger deepens

US tech giants including Apple, Microsoft and Google have joined forces to attack Australia's 'anti-encryption’ bill.

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the 2018 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP

US tech giants Apple, Microsoft and Google have joined forces to decry Australia’s controversial ‘anti-encryption’ bill that passed the federal parliament last week.

A coalition of tech companies, which also includes Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Snap and Yahoo parent company Oath, called the law “deeply flawed” and said it will undermine the privacy of users.

“The new Australian law is deeply flawed, overly broad, and lacking in adequate independent oversight over the new authorities,” the Reform Government Surveillance coalition said in a statement, first reported by TechCrunch.

The coalition also urged Australia’s politicians to “promptly address these flaws when it reconvenes” in 2019.

International and Australian technology businesses have campaigned against the bill. Atlassian head Mike Cannon-Brookes said on Twitter: “It’s dangerous and shouldn’t be passed.”

Technology businesses claimed the “technical capability notices”, which can be issued to companies under the bill, could undermine encryption by forcing companies to alter their apps, and argued it could expose their technology to hackers.

Meanwhile hundreds of members of Australia’s tech community have started a website, ‘ALP fail’, containing an open letter to Bill Shorten and Australian Labor.

“You have shown us what you really are — a bunch of spineless weasels,” the letter reads.

“Every tech expert agrees that the so-called “Assistance and Access Bill” will do significant damage to Australia’s IT industry.

“We do not want to deliberately build backdoors or make our products insecure. This means everyone else’s data will be vulnerable. People have an expectation that we protect their personal data to the best of our ability. We cannot continue to guarantee this unless we go against the technical capability notices issued by law enforcement — which will become a criminal offence.”

The head of the journalists union, Paul Murphy, called on the government to reconsider the laws.

“This bill would grant access to the communications data of journalists without any proper judicial oversight, and with no consideration of the need to protect public-interest reporting,” Mr Murphy said.

Additional reporting: Primrose Riordan.