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Comment by munksbeer

1 day ago

I'm an immigrant to the UK. I have lived here permanently for 21 successive years, though I was actually in and out of the UK for years before that. My current anecdotal feeling about the UK is at a pretty low point.

If it was an option, I would seriously look to emigrate again, but I honestly don't know where. The most appealing option for me is Australia, but my age works against me. I know everywhere has its issues, but I'm just so worn down by the horrible adversarial political system and gutter press in the UK right now. We seem unable to do anything of note recently. A train line connecting not very much of the UK has cost so much money, and in the end it hasn't even joined up the important part.

I don't know, life is good at a local level. I am privileged and live in a fantastically beautiful town, and life here is safe and friendly. If I ignored everything else for a while it would probably do me good.

Australia is hardly any better. E.g. it forces software engineers to try to sneak backdoors into the software they're working on.

Imagine hiring someone you didn't know had an Australian dual citizenship and two years later all your customers' data is leaked onto the net.

  • Australian law explicitly prohibits requests that have someone "implement or build a systemic weaknesses, or a systemic vulnerability, into a form of electronic protection" - including any request to "implement or build a new decryption capability", anything which would "render systematic methods of authentication or encryption less effective", anything aimed at one person but could "jeopardise the security or any information held by another person", anything which "creates a material risk that otherwise secure information can be accessed by an unauthorised third party".

    This UK request as reported would not be legal in Australia.

    • Since 2018:

      > Technical Capability Notices (TCNs): TCNs are orders that require a company to build new capabilities that assist law enforcement agencies in accessing encrypted data. The Attorney-General must approve a TCN by confirming it is reasonable, proportionate, practical, and technically feasible.

      > It’s that final one that’s the real problem. The Australian government can force tech companies to build backdoors into their systems.

      https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/09/australia-thr...

      1 reply →

Like most immigrants you were sold a lie. Enjoy.

  • Sorry? The UK has been an amazing place for me. It still is, when I focus locally, instead of being swept up by everything else.

    Are you also an immigrant to the UK? I suggest you embrace it.