As law enforcement officials continue to lobby for the return of warrantless Online Spying Bill C-30, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner is speaking out in defending Canadians' right to privacy online. We need to have our right to privacy protected – not compromised. Join us in speaking out against invasive Online Spying Bill C-30 at StopSpying.ca. Commentary by Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario As Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, I have a deep respect for law enforcement. I frequently work closely with the police to help them succeed in fulfilling their important functions without sacrificing our vital right to privacy. The guidance I have provided over the years on the privacy implications of new technologies has given the police a roadmap on how to be effective, yet also protect our privacy. That is why I am perplexed by the ongoing disagreement between law enforcement and Canada’s privacy commissioners over the federal government’s highly intrusive surveillance legislation, Bill C-30. Repeatedly, privacy commissioners have identified a pragmatic and principled approach to fixing the flawed aspects of the Bill. Time and again, members of the law enforcement community have insisted they need overly broad powers, while failing to recognize that they can have both new and effective law enforcement powers, while still protecting the privacy of individual Canadians.

International governments are pushing for Canada to enact Online Spying Bill C-30 – an intrusive piece of legislation that would provide authorities with warrantless access to Internet users' private data. Law-abiding Canadians shouldn't have to compromise their online security and privacy. Speak out against this invasive and costly Internet surveillance plan at StopSpying.ca. If you've already signed onto our campaign, encourage others to do the same at OpenMedia.ca/SOSChallenge. Article by Jordan Press for Postmedia News The Harper government, under pressure at home over its controversial Internet surveillance bill, including a renewed push from law enforcement to pass the legislation, continues to come under international pressure to pass Bill C-30. The legislation, dubbed the “lawful access” bill, contains provisions that would allow Canada to ratify an 11-year-old convention on Internet crime, which its allies are antsy to see approved. Bill C-30 created a storm of outrage when it was tabled because it would allow authorities access to Internet subscriber information — including names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses — without a warrant in cases where companies refused to provide it voluntarily.

The federal privacy commissioner is speaking out against websites collecting personal information and data, but a larger threat to Canadian Internet privacy still exists in the form of the Online Spying Bill C-30. Learn how this warrantless legislation could invade your Internet use at StopSpying.ca and read more about this story at CBC.ca.

Parliament resumes this month, and as Tim Harper of the Toronto Star asserts, the highly unpopular online spying bill, C-30, is still high on the government’s agenda. As there’s little on the books for the fall session of Parliament, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is taking the opportunity to once again push his controversial legislation. But Toews may not be the Public Safety Minister for much longer—according to Harper, the online spying bill is in desperate need of a new champion following Toews’ public relations disaster earlier this year, when he asserted that all those who opposed the bill supported child pornographers. This showed blatant disrespect—not only in regards to this brutally serious crime—but also to the privacy commissioners, legal and policy expert, and thousands of Canadians who had asserted that the online spying bill is invasive, costly, and poorly thought-out. Now that Bill C-30 is so negatively linked to Toews, the Conservatives may be looking for a new salesman.