Canberra 14 Jul (ANA) - The Australian government says it wants new laws to force tech firms such as Apple and Facebook to provide access to encrypted messages. Some apps such as WhatsApp use end-to-end encryption, making messages unreadable if intercepted. Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned that encrypted messaging apps could be used by criminals and terrorists. But security experts say strong encryption protects citizens' privacy.

Many countries, including Australia, have laws in place that can force messaging services to hand over a suspect's communications to police with an appropriate warrant. However, messaging companies cannot hand over messages that have been end-to-end encrypted because they do not receive a legible copy.(ANA)

FA/ANA/14 July 2017----------