China Using US Encryption Fight To Defend Its New Encryption Backdoor Mandate
from the because,-of-course dept
It's not like this wasn't easy to predict (because we did exactly that), but as China is pushing forward with its new "anti-terrorism" law, it's using the US's fight over encryption as a reason for why the law shouldn't be a problem. Part of the law would require that companies backdoor any encryption for the Chinese government:The initial draft, published by parliament late last year, requires companies to keep servers and user data within China, supply law enforcement authorities with communications records and censor terrorism-related Internet content.Again, this is hardly surprising, but with all of these politicians demanding backdoors, or other surveillance techniques, have any of them stopped to consider the message being sent to other governments around the globe? Either way, the bill has now been approved by the Chinese Parliament. And, again, the Chinese government is pointing to other countries as to why it's no big deal:
China has said many Western governments, including the United States, have made similar requests for encryption keys, and Chinese companies operating in the United States had been subject to intense security checks.
Speaking after China's largely rubber-stamp parliament passed the law, Li Shouwei, deputy head of the parliament's criminal law division under the legislative affairs committee, said China was simply doing what other Western nations already do in asking technology firms to help fight terror.So, again, to all the politicians and lawmakers supporting backdooring encryption, what's your response when China uses it to say that's why they're doing it as well?
"This rule accords with the actual work need of fighting terrorism and is basically the same as what other major countries in the world do," Li told reporters.
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Filed Under: anti-terrorism, backdoors, china, encryption, going dark, privacy, surveillance, us
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You really need to ask?
Either:
Politicians: "China? Is that a country or something? I'm sorry, but I have no idea how that is relevant to the discussion of combating terrorism by making sure that terrorists don't have secure forms of communications to use."
Or
Politicians: "See, China has passed strong anti-terrorism laws, and they're doing fine! Clearly all the hype over how dangerous encryption backdoors are are nothing but scaremongering by the terrorist-sympathizers in the tech industry, unwilling to take simple, reasonable steps to combat terrorism!"
Those pushing for crippled encryption show a complete disregard for the security of those living in the same country that they do, why would they care what happens to the people in other countries? If anything they're probably glad for china's move here, as it means a free security vulnerability that they can exploit without having to do anything themselves but find it.
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Donald Trump: I'll nuke backdoors until there are no backdoors.
Ben Carson: This one time I fought off 9 backdoors with a rubber band and fork.
Westboro Baptist Church: God hates backdoors.
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Re:
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ponky jammin backdoors ponk
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Re: ponky jammin backdoors ponk
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Re:
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Regret to inform you that in China - and a few other places - it may cost a few people their heads - literally. The political decision makers won't give a damn that it was their decision that started it.
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Unfortunately
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The Endgame?
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Re: The Endgame?
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A boon for US surveillance
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Re: A boon for US surveillance
No, more likely when such data is obtained by another party, whether individual or government, they'll just double down and insist that it happened not because of the broken encryption, but because the tech companies didn't try hard enough, or didn't properly implement the broken encryption, with threats of even more burdensome legislation if it happens again.
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Re: Re: A boon for US surveillance
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Voter records database hacked.
They're boning you for it from one direction, and losing it just as fast from another.
Who needs the Chinese when the US gov't's on the job? Shades of the OPM hack.
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Re: Voter records database hacked.
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Re: Re: Voter records database hacked.
When's that going to be illegal?
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