Surveillance: America's Pastime by Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: naixn, Jason Smith / feastoffun.com) (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Surveillance

Secret Surveillance Puts Internet Governance System at Risk

One year ago, many Internet users were engaged in a contentious debate over the question of who should govern the Internet. The debate pitted the current model led by a United States based organization known as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (supported by the U.S.) against a government-led, United Nations-style model under which countries such as China and Russia could assert greater control over Internet governance.

The differences between the two approaches were never as stark as some portrayed since the current model grants the U.S. considerable contractual power over ICANN, but the fear of greater foreign government control over the Internet led to strong political opposition to UN involvement.

While supporters of the current model ultimately prevailed at a UN conference in Dubai last December where most Western democracies, including Canada, strongly rejected major Internet governance reforms, the issue was fundamentally about trust. Given that all governments have become more vocal about Internet matters, the debate was never over whether government would be involved, but rather about who the global Internet community trusted to lead on governance matters.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) argues that the Internet governance choice was a relatively easy one at the time, but in recent weeks the revelations about widespread U.S. secret surveillance of the Internet may cause many to rethink their views. Starting with the first disclosures in early June about the collection of phone metadata, the past two months have been marked by a dizzying array of reports that reveal a massive U.S. surveillance infrastructure that covers the globe and seeks access to virtually all Internet-based communications.

August 2, 2013 — 4 comments — Columns

Secret Surveillance Puts Internet Governance System at Risk

Appeared in the Toronto Star on July 27, 2013 as Secret Surveillance Puts Internet Governance System at Risk One year ago, many Internet users were engaged in a contentious debate over the question of who should govern the Internet. The debate pitted the current model led by a United States […]

August 2, 2013 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive

Canada’s Lawful Access Bill Appears to Have Contained a Provision to Enable PRISM-Style Surveillance

As the revelations about U.S. secret surveillance continue, one of the more interesting recent articles was a Buzzfeed piece that focused on a Utah ISP that hosted a “little black box” in the corner inserted by the National Security Agency. The article describes how a Foreign Intelligence Service Act (FISA) warrant allowed the NSA to monitor the activities of an ISP subscriber by inserting surveillance equipment directly within the ISP’s network. The experience in Utah appears to have been replicated in many other Internet and technology companies, who face secret court orders to install equipment on their systems.

The U.S. experience should raise some alarm bells in Canada, since the now defeated lawful access bill envisioned similar legal powers. Section 14(4) of the bill provided:

July 29, 2013 — 10 comments — News

Debating Surveillance and the Law in Canada

The recent stories about surveillance in the United States and Canada have generated increased debate in the media over the issue and I’ve been privileged to participate in several discussions. Last week, I sat down with Nick Taylor-Vaisey of Maclean’s to discuss the issue. The full interview is now posted here. Further, CBC’s Cross-Country Check-Up spent two hours discussing surveillance and privacy on Sunday’s show. I appeared as a guest at about the 54 minute mark. Yesterday, I also participated in a far-ranging debate on surveillance and transparency on TVO’s The Agenda. The video version of the program should be online shortly, but in the meantime a podcast version is available.

Finally, my technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) this week focuses again on the disconnect between 20th century laws and 21st century surveillance. It notes that revelations about secret surveillance in the United States involving both Internet-based communications and the collection of metadata from all cellphone calls immediately raised questions about the possibility of Canadian involvement or the inclusion of Canadian data. Given the common communication infrastructure and similarities between Canadian and U.S. laws, it seemed likely that Canada was engaged in much of the same activities. Within days, it was reported that Canada has its own metadata surveillance program, with the ministerial approval coming in 2011 from Defence Minister Peter McKay.

June 18, 2013 — 11 comments — Columns