RB2: Interview with Neil Gaughan, Assistant Commissioner, AFP

When can the feds demand your encryption keys?
19 Feb 2010 » Risky Business Extra

In this instalment of RB2 we'll be hearing from Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan, who heads up High Tech and Child Protection Operations, for the AFP.

A recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald detailed changes to Australian law that would allow the Australian Federal Police to physically destroy computers if they contain encrypted data the police can't unlock.

The story also talked about further changes to laws that would stiffen penalties for suspects who refuse to hand over encryption keys and passwords.

Anyway, it all sounded pretty extreme and drew a pretty adverse reaction from Adam Boileau, our regular news guest on the Risky Business podcast, so I thought I'd get Neil on the line and ask him about these changes, instead of just assuming the worst.

Neil joined me by phone on Monday for this interview!