UPDATED 20:22 EST / DECEMBER 27 2015

NEWS

China passes new law that will force companies to hand over encryption keys

China’s legislature passed a new law on Sunday that would force all tech companies to hand over their encryption keys to the government, irrespective of whether they were local or foreign players.

The new law, said to be by government newsagency Xinhuanet as representing “a development in the right direction for a country that has been a victim of violent terror attacks, especially at a time when the international community is facing an unprecedented wave of terror threats” creates a legal “framework for China in its dealing with terrorism both at home and abroad.”

While the law itself covers various aspects of counter-terrorism operations, it’s the measures intended to identify people and activities thath worries governments in the West given that those potentially caught in the net included dissidents and others opposed to China’s communist regime who are otherwise peaceful, as well as potentially presenting a further chilling effect on free speech in a country with limited free speech to begin with.

Another aspect of the legislation identified previously by the United States is that the law, combined with new draft banking and insurance rules and a slew of anti-trust investigations, amounts to unfair regulatory pressure targeting foreign companies.

President Obama expressed concerns about the law when it was still in a draft form in March, stating at the time that regulations amounted to a dangerous backdoor to Internet services, adding, “We have made it very clear to them that this is something they are going to have to change if they are to do business with the United States,” suggesting clearly that the anti-terrorism law is designed to place Western Internet companies at a disadvantage in China.

China, for its part, has simply replied with its now typical anti-Western rhetoric, stating that the new law “is by no means an excuse for a foreign country to make unwarranted distasteful criticism against China,” before noting that:

Washington argues that the technical requirements would lead to [a] breach of privacy and infringement upon intellectual property rights for U.S. firms. The argument, however, is a typical example of ignoring the elephant in the room — only in this case, there are two elephants …

Many countries, including the United States, have written into law technology firms’ duty to cooperate in terror-related surveillance or probe.

Meanwhile, although it is a common practice to oblige firms to help fight terrorism, the United States appears to have gone way further by abusing the so-called “backdoor access” to make itself the world master of eavesdropping: It does not only spy on common U.S. citizens, but also prominent foreign leaders.

As for the U.S. concern over possible restrictions on personal freedom, anyone with a sober mind sees the necessity to sacrifice a small portion of personal rights if it’s what it takes to preserve the ultimate personal rights to life.

And the U.S. worries about a media clampdown under the new law is nothing but a farfetched notion, since China has hosted scores of foreign media organizations and their reporters have access to even the highest government offices for years.

The law is due to come into force in January.

Image credit: azrainman/Flickr/CC by 2.0

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