Stop Hiding Behind the Phone Book, Mr. Toews
2 Comments
Recent Posts
Canadian Government Caves on Digital Services Tax After Years of Dismissing the Risks of Trade Retaliation 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 238: David Fraser on Why Bill C-2’s Lawful Access Powers May Put Canadians’ Digital Security At Risk 
Ignoring the Warning Signs: Why Did the Canadian Government Dismiss the Trade Risks of a Digital Services Tax? 
Why Bill C-2 Faces a Likely Constitutional Challenge By Placing Solicitor-Client Privilege at Risk 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 237: A Conversation with Jason Woywada of BCFIPA on Political Party Privacy and Bill C-4
Phonebook
I suppose if he’s so insistent on likening it to a phone book, then like a phone book, Canadians should have the option to opt out and be unlisted.
The problem with the article
After a fashion, the article is correct.
However, some of her comments don’t make sense to me. In the not too distant past, say, before the widespread use of the Internet and when the current laws were crafted, the uses that she talks about over the internet toward the end of the article were done over the telephone system and therefore accessible to police with a wiretap authorization. It is only in the past 15 or so years that much of this has migrated to the Internet.
She is correct, however, about the bill’s attempt to make access to the customer information available without a warrant… although in this case I can see the point, even though I don’t agree with it, that the information typically looked for is what would be published in an Internet phone book, had such a beast ever been created.