Breaking encryption

Breaking encryption is a really bad idea. There's no such thing as a back door that 'good' people (such as governments) can use and bad people such as criminals can not. This doesn't prevent virtually every government from pledging to force technology companies to implement encryption back doors in the false name of security against terrorist attacks. This won't work because terrorists do not have much incentive to obey the law. This rather reminds me of the little green visa forms you had to fill in when flying to the US. You had to tick a box to say you hadn't committed any genocides as though lying on the visa form was the greater offense.

Australia's government is the latest to adopt this pre-beaten dead horse of a stupid idea. They're copying the UK, which makes me feel guilty. I feel I must apologise for the conduct of our nation. Sorry, Australia.

The article I quoted goes over the usual stuff but I found the following amusing (emphasis mine):

But some experts, as well as Facebook, warned that weakening end-to-end encryption services so that police could eavesdrop would leave communications vulnerable to hackers.

The quote from Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is exactly as terrifying as it is hilarious:

The laws of mathematics are very commendable but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia.

I look forward to the anti-gravity bill.