The Australian government wants to decrypt your encrypted messages

We all know how good it feels when we can enjoy some degree of privacy. Opening the door only to those we choose to have a glimpse of the wonders of our creative minds. For some of you, and very soon for those in Australia, the choice of who gets to see those creations, otherwise called your messages, will not just be up to you.

Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister of Australia, is pushing for software companies to decrypt messages and make them available to law enforcement authorities when requested. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook provide end-to-end encryption of messages so as to prevent them from being intercepted and read by unauthorized people.

Prime Minister Turnbull wants law enforcement authorities to have access to messages sent by terrorists and criminals. For that to happen, a "back door" would have to be built into the app for them to enter, or the encryption weakened so they can easily decipher it. Either of those scenarios would make it easier for hackers to get access to your messages.

Be prepared, this could be adopted by your government soon. The Australian plan is to model its law after the British Investigatory Powers Act. You can read about Australia's plan here.