A joint submission from the Australian Privacy Foundation, Electronic Frontiers Australia, Digital Rights Watch and Future Wise to Parliament’s Joint Committee on Law Enforcement seeks to have the current data retention scheme suspended, Computerworld reports. In the submission, the organizations also request the government ends steps that could undermine the use of encryption, arguing that such steps would enable cybercriminals to capitalize on weaker encryption protections. While it remains unclear if legislation would mandate backdoor access to encrypted data be made available, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Department said, “Legislation to enable Australian law enforcement and security agencies to adapt to the challenges posed by ubiquitous encryption is in an advanced stage of development.”
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