Assistance and Access Bill 2018 just passed the house as amended (yes, all 173) despite the disagreement. Sad day for democracy and our online privacy, safety & security. Australian politics just broke the internet... – Senator Jordon Steele-John

You have completely missed the point.

A backdoor is a backdoor, it doesn't matter if the govt has "exclusive access" or not. If it exists, anyone can exploit it, and do nasty shit like blackmail, fraud or identity theft en masse.

Also you trust today's government. Will you trust tomorrow's? Who knows what will be deemed "interesting" to a future leader who, for example, might use these laws to criminalise copyright theft, at the behest of multinational holding companies. Or, maybe you just liked the opposition party on Facebook, and you are now a target for extra scrutiny and spamming with robocalls near election day.

It's never about what the law means for today. It's about what it will mean in the years to come.

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