During the last session of Parliament before the 2010 federal election ended it, Bill C-50, C-51, and C-52http://forums.canadiancontent.net/#_edn1 were introduced to empower law enforcement agencies to better police online activities. The Bills and similar ones tabled in the past have been dubbed “lawful access” – the term used for a “series of proposed updates to the criminal code that would give police additional powers and tools to conduct investigations involving new technologies”[ii] based in internet use.
Vic Toews, the Public Safety Minister, and the Conservative government are central proponents of lawful access legislation. A campaign platform of Stephen Harper for the 2010 May election was to "give law enforcement and national security agencies up-to-date tools to fight crime in today's high-tech telecommunications environment,"[iii] but the legislative changes the Conservatives had introduced contained worrisome privacy concerns, which they have deceitfully defended, and their defensiveness of the past forms of lawful access suggests the bills will not be altered when re-instituted.
The aforementioned lawful access bills would have given law enforcement officers “significant[ly] new capabilities…to track, and search and seize digital information"[iv] through increased access to private information and surveillance powers without a warrant. In anticipation of the lawful access legislation being reintroduced under a Conservative majority government in the current Parliamentary session, “privacy and consumer advocates and opposition politicians have been”[v] drawing attention to and speaking out against the proposals that had been presented.
For instance, the Privacy Commission of Canada Jennifer Stoddart along with the “provincial and territorial privacy commissioners had previously written to express their concerns about lawful access legislation to the government in 2009 and in [late] 2011.”[vi] Jennifer Stoddart has expressed particular uneasiness about the introduced requirement for internet service providers to release subscriber data to the authorities without a warrant.
Mandated disclosure “of Internet provider customer information without court oversight”[vii] is argued by Toews to be “akin to ‘phone book data’ that is typically publicly available”,[viii] but the requested information is far more detailed than what a phonebook provides and encompasses “eleven different items including customer name, address, phone number, email address, Internet protocol address, and a series of device identification numbers.”[ix] Unlike personal information in the phonebook, the lawful access material could have been used to identify and track individuals’ online activity.
Toews tried to assuage concerns in September of 2011 by stating “allegations that private communications would be intercepted without a warrant [are] ‘outrageous claims’ and ‘a complete fabrication.”[x] However, as pointed out by “Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa researcher who holds a Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law,”[xi] though the statement is technically accurate, lawful access bills would still have provided “a detailed profile about an identifiable person”[xii] that could have been used to monitor communications in internet chat rooms and forums because they are classified as public.
That is, if passed, law enforcement agencies would have been able to circumvent “online anonymity without judicial authorization”[xiii] and “link people's identities to…posts in online forums where people feel they can anonymously express political dissent [and unpopular viewpoints] or share highly personal information”.[xiv] And “it is almost assured that such powers will be abused, and valuable free speech will be chilled,”[xv] according to the Ottawa-based Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) in an online lawful access FAQ.
Michael Geist agrees about the threat of abuse, for “without the need for a warrant, there is no mechanism for oversight or for ensuring the provision is only used under circumstances in which they are justified.”[xvi]
The Public Safety Minister disagrees and has defended Conservative forms of lawful access by accusing opponents of putting “the rights of child pornographers and organized crime ahead of the rights of law-abiding citizens.”[xvii] This rhetorically black-and-white oversimplification impedes an honest debate of the facts and is dismissive of legitimate concerns.
And although Vic Toews’ has expressed how the lawful access proposals that were presented would have struck “an appropriate balance between the investigative powers used to protect public safety and the necessity to safeguard the privacy of Canadians",[xviii] neither he nor the government have demonstrated its need through credible evidence.
In the open letter sent to Vic Toews in October 2011, the Canadian Privacy Commissioner wrote that “’no systematic case has yet been made to justify the extent of the new investigative capabilities’ proposed and show that less ‘privacy invasive’ alternatives won't work.”[xix] She also noted how the police have not presented any evidence that their duties cannot be met under current law.
If authorities are concerned with obtaining warrants in a timely manner, Stoddard went on to say “these [are] administrative challenges [and] should be addressed by administrative solutions rather than by weakening long-standing legal principles that uphold Canadians’ fundamental freedoms."[xx]
The Conservatives’ past proposals for lawful access legislation were radically invasive and skirted judicial oversight, and no reasonable explanation based in fact has yet been presented as to why such a drastic change in law is required to ensure Canadian law enforcement has the proper tools to perform their duties. Canadians deserve an honest and evidence-based debate on the issue despite the Conservative’s attempts to avoid one. This leads one to believe that the lawful access bills to be presented in this session of Parliament will also support access to information and surveillance powers that lack judicial oversight.
http://forums.canadiancontent.net/#_ednref1 CBC News
Posted: Jun 23, 2011
Last Updated: Jun 23, 2011
Petition against internet 'lawful access' bills - Politics - CBC News
[ii] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
Lawful access FAQs: Clearing confusion about 'surveillance' proposals - Technology & Science - CBC News
[iii] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[iv] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Quote by Privacy Commission of Canada Jennifer Stoddart
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[v] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[vi] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[vii] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[viii] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[ix] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[x] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
Lawful access FAQs: Clearing confusion about 'surveillance' proposals - Technology & Science - CBC News
[xi] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xii] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xiii] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xiv] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/27/technology-privacy-commissioner-lawful-access.html
[xv] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xvi] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xvii] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[xviii] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[xix] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[xx] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
Vic Toews, the Public Safety Minister, and the Conservative government are central proponents of lawful access legislation. A campaign platform of Stephen Harper for the 2010 May election was to "give law enforcement and national security agencies up-to-date tools to fight crime in today's high-tech telecommunications environment,"[iii] but the legislative changes the Conservatives had introduced contained worrisome privacy concerns, which they have deceitfully defended, and their defensiveness of the past forms of lawful access suggests the bills will not be altered when re-instituted.
The aforementioned lawful access bills would have given law enforcement officers “significant[ly] new capabilities…to track, and search and seize digital information"[iv] through increased access to private information and surveillance powers without a warrant. In anticipation of the lawful access legislation being reintroduced under a Conservative majority government in the current Parliamentary session, “privacy and consumer advocates and opposition politicians have been”[v] drawing attention to and speaking out against the proposals that had been presented.
For instance, the Privacy Commission of Canada Jennifer Stoddart along with the “provincial and territorial privacy commissioners had previously written to express their concerns about lawful access legislation to the government in 2009 and in [late] 2011.”[vi] Jennifer Stoddart has expressed particular uneasiness about the introduced requirement for internet service providers to release subscriber data to the authorities without a warrant.
Mandated disclosure “of Internet provider customer information without court oversight”[vii] is argued by Toews to be “akin to ‘phone book data’ that is typically publicly available”,[viii] but the requested information is far more detailed than what a phonebook provides and encompasses “eleven different items including customer name, address, phone number, email address, Internet protocol address, and a series of device identification numbers.”[ix] Unlike personal information in the phonebook, the lawful access material could have been used to identify and track individuals’ online activity.
Toews tried to assuage concerns in September of 2011 by stating “allegations that private communications would be intercepted without a warrant [are] ‘outrageous claims’ and ‘a complete fabrication.”[x] However, as pointed out by “Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa researcher who holds a Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law,”[xi] though the statement is technically accurate, lawful access bills would still have provided “a detailed profile about an identifiable person”[xii] that could have been used to monitor communications in internet chat rooms and forums because they are classified as public.
That is, if passed, law enforcement agencies would have been able to circumvent “online anonymity without judicial authorization”[xiii] and “link people's identities to…posts in online forums where people feel they can anonymously express political dissent [and unpopular viewpoints] or share highly personal information”.[xiv] And “it is almost assured that such powers will be abused, and valuable free speech will be chilled,”[xv] according to the Ottawa-based Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) in an online lawful access FAQ.
Michael Geist agrees about the threat of abuse, for “without the need for a warrant, there is no mechanism for oversight or for ensuring the provision is only used under circumstances in which they are justified.”[xvi]
The Public Safety Minister disagrees and has defended Conservative forms of lawful access by accusing opponents of putting “the rights of child pornographers and organized crime ahead of the rights of law-abiding citizens.”[xvii] This rhetorically black-and-white oversimplification impedes an honest debate of the facts and is dismissive of legitimate concerns.
And although Vic Toews’ has expressed how the lawful access proposals that were presented would have struck “an appropriate balance between the investigative powers used to protect public safety and the necessity to safeguard the privacy of Canadians",[xviii] neither he nor the government have demonstrated its need through credible evidence.
In the open letter sent to Vic Toews in October 2011, the Canadian Privacy Commissioner wrote that “’no systematic case has yet been made to justify the extent of the new investigative capabilities’ proposed and show that less ‘privacy invasive’ alternatives won't work.”[xix] She also noted how the police have not presented any evidence that their duties cannot be met under current law.
If authorities are concerned with obtaining warrants in a timely manner, Stoddard went on to say “these [are] administrative challenges [and] should be addressed by administrative solutions rather than by weakening long-standing legal principles that uphold Canadians’ fundamental freedoms."[xx]
The Conservatives’ past proposals for lawful access legislation were radically invasive and skirted judicial oversight, and no reasonable explanation based in fact has yet been presented as to why such a drastic change in law is required to ensure Canadian law enforcement has the proper tools to perform their duties. Canadians deserve an honest and evidence-based debate on the issue despite the Conservative’s attempts to avoid one. This leads one to believe that the lawful access bills to be presented in this session of Parliament will also support access to information and surveillance powers that lack judicial oversight.
http://forums.canadiancontent.net/#_ednref1 CBC News
Posted: Jun 23, 2011
Last Updated: Jun 23, 2011
Petition against internet 'lawful access' bills - Politics - CBC News
[ii] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
Lawful access FAQs: Clearing confusion about 'surveillance' proposals - Technology & Science - CBC News
[iii] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[iv] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Quote by Privacy Commission of Canada Jennifer Stoddart
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[v] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[vi] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[vii] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[viii] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[ix] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[x] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
Lawful access FAQs: Clearing confusion about 'surveillance' proposals - Technology & Science - CBC News
[xi] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xii] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xiii] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xiv] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/27/technology-privacy-commissioner-lawful-access.html
[xv] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xvi] CBC News
Posted Oct 04, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 05, 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/04/f-lawful-access.html
[xvii] Toronto Star
Published: Dec 10, 2011
Canada
[xviii] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[xix] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
[xx] CBC News
Posted: Oct 27, 2011
Last Updated: Oct 27, 2011
Privacy watchdog reiterates lawful access concerns - Technology & Science - CBC News
