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

Canadian Surveillance Laws Can’t Handle Modern Day Snooping Technologies

Appeared in the Toronto Star on June 15, 2013 as Surveillance Laws Can’t Handle Modern Snooping Technologies 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 […]

June 18, 2013 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive

Government Secrecy and the Limits of Transparency

I appeared on The Agenda with Steve Paikin to discuss Secrecy and the Limits of Transparency. The full video is available on TVO’s website and a portion is available on YouTube.

June 17, 2013 — Comments are Disabled — News Interviews, Tv / Radio

Discussing Who is Watching the Watchers

I appeared on Gorilla Radio on CFUV, Victoria’s Campus Community Radio Station, to my post, Who is Watching the Watchers. Listen to the interview or download it here.

June 17, 2013 — Comments are Disabled — ExtPodcasts, News Interviews, Tv / Radio

Who Is Watching the Watchers?: Ten Questions About Canada’s Secret Metadata Surveillance Activities

The surveillance story may have started last week in the U.S. with the leak of several secret surveillance programs including massive surveillance of the metadata from all cellphone calls, but the Canadian questions continue to mount. The U.S. disclosures immediately raised questions about the possibility of Canadian involvement or the inclusion of Canadian data. Given the common communication infrastructure and the similarity between Canadian and U.S. laws, it seemed likely that Canada was engaged in much the same activities.

By Monday, the Globe was reporting that the CSEC has its own metadata surveillance program with approval granted through a ministerial directive from Defence Minister Peter MacKay in 2011. When questioned about the issue, MacKay sought to assure Canadians that the surveillance only involved foreign communications. Despite those assurances, the questions have continued to mount:

June 13, 2013 — 10 comments — News

20th Century Laws Meet 21st Century Surveillance: Why Metadata Surveillance is a Serious Concern

The concerns about telephone and Internet surveillance moved north yesterday as the Globe revealed that Canada has its own metadata surveillance program. The program was discontinued in 2008 after concerns that it could involve illegal surveillance of Canadians, but was secretly restarted in 2011. It is not clear what change sparked the policy reversal (if there was a reversal – some believe the program was never stopped). The issue was raised in the House of Commons, but the response from the government focuses on two claims: (1) that the surveillance does not target Canadians; and (2) that the data captured is metadata rather than content and therefore does not raise significant privacy issues.

Neither response should provide Canadians concerned for their privacy with much comfort as it increasingly apparent that Canada has 20th century protections in a world of 21st century surveillance.

June 11, 2013 — 6 comments — News