The Week in Internet News: Australian Lawmakers Push for ‘Fix’ to Encryption Law Thumbnail
Technology 9 December 2019

The Week in Internet News: Australian Lawmakers Push for ‘Fix’ to Encryption Law

Grant Gross
By Grant GrossGuest AuthorTechnology Reporter

An encryption fix: The Australian Labor Party says it will push for changes to an encryption law, passed in late 2018, that requires tech comp anies to give law enforcement agencies access to encrypted communications, ZDNet reports. Labor Party lawmakers have raised concerns about the law’s effect on the country’s tech industry, but it appears they don’t have the votes to make changes.

Telemedicine needs access: The use of telemedicine is growing, but low speeds in rural Internet are delaying its benefits to parts of Indiana, according to a story from the Kokomo Tribune, posted at Govtech.com. Some Internet-based diagnosis services need interactive videoconferencing technology with fast broadband speeds that aren’t available in parts of the state.

The future of IoT security: IoT World Today has six predictions for Internet of Things security in 2020. Among them: Facilities managers will become more concerned about smart building security, with buildings becoming a new avenue of attack. The security of 5G networks will also become an issue with new attacks on the way.

Goodbye WhatsApp: WhatsApp has begun automatically removing Kashmiri residents from WhatsApp, due to a long-running Internet shutdown in the region controlled by India, The Verge reports. WhatsApp’s policies remove users after 120 days of inactivity.

Goodbye website: A global law enforcement operation has shut down more than 30,500 websites for alleged intellectual property violations, or online piracy, in the common terminology, Bleeping Computer says. EU, U.S. and other law enforcement agencies accused the sites of trading in “counterfeit pharmaceuticals and pirated movies, illegal television streaming, music, software, electronics, and other bogus products.”

Take these six actions to protect encryption and protect yourself.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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