If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The current terrain of Canadian spying legislation is complex. Bill C-30 is dead, and that is cause to celebrate. But it's also important to remain vigilant. Serious questions remain over bill C-55 and its so-called "emergency" situations, as well as how long authorities can continue to monitor communications after getting approval for intercept. At the same time, bill C-55 represents an opportunity to limit warrantless wiretaps to emergency situations only. Such a stipulation would prevent future attempts at mass surveillance along the lines of bill C-30.
The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police renewed its call for Internet surveillance legislation on Friday, urging the government to move forward with Bill C-30. It is striking that the government never mentioned cyber-bullying when it introduced Bill C-30. That is because the bill has little to do with cyber-bullying.
The government has placed Bill C-30, the lawful access/online surveillance bill on hold, but there is no reason to believe it is going away. In fact, ...
Canadians deserve better than deceptive claims and divisive name-calling. They deserve real judicial oversight before their personal information is disclosed and, given the costs (financial and otherwise), they deserve a full accounting on why lawful access is needed.
Ironically, while the legislation is billed as an attempt to ensure police powers keep up with technological change, many of the government's attempts to justify the legislation ignore the privacy implications of applying pre-Internet norms to an online world.
