In an ‘unprecedented’ loss of data at the government department Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the digital data of 583,000 Canadians’ who had taken out a student loan was lost. With the government losing this much personal data, how can they ask to collect our private online data through bills like C-30? Tell the government you want your private information to remain private at: http://stopspying.ca/ Article by CBC News:

I raised a lot of eyebrows on my last post regarding the Teksavvy vs. Voltage case, so I’d thought I’d follow up with this post. Questions on why I’m so passionate about privacy and copyright should be pretty much answered after this post, and why I’ve chosen to speak out on both of those issues. Consumers sense of insecurity can have a lot more negative consequences on a much broader scale than just copyright allegations. Right or wrong, if you do any business in Canada you know that Canadian consumers have a reasonable expectation of privacy that is with the company they do business with, and also contracted as such in most cases.

Looking back at 2012 you should feel proud of what you've been part of. For example, our friends at Electronic Frontier Foundation put together this review of how you joined with people across the country to stop Vic Toews online spying bill C-30. Toews will likely try to bring this plan back but it's not so often that citizens have such a clear victory. You can help maintain that victory by calling on your MP to make a public stand against warrantless spying at: http://openmedia.ca/stand - and by sharing this image.

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.

A few months ago Canadians sent a loud, clear message to the Canadian government to StopSpying.ca. This followed the introduction of warrantless Online Spying Bill C-30, a bizarre piece of legislation that would grant ‘authorities’ with unrestricted access to Canadians’ private information, leave our personal and financial information less secure, and implement costly spying technology that taxpayers would have to fund. When Public Safety Minister Vic Toews proclaimed that Canadians who didn’t support his bill were standing with child pornographers, the outrage was palpable, and citizens made sure Parliament heard us. In short order, online spying bill C-30 was quietly sent directly to Committee and it has yet to come back to the floor to be debated again.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has called on the government to revive the invasive Online Spying Bill C-30, granting warrantless access to the private data of citizens. Law-abiding Canadians shouldn't have to compromise their online security and privacy. If our police chiefs and government want to target criminals, they need to start over in crafting legislation for that purpose. Speak out against the intrusive Online Spying Bill C-30 at StopSpying.ca and read more about this push by police chiefs to resurrect Bill C-30 at MichaelGeist.ca. Take local action against online spying through our SOS Challenge by encouraging friends and family to join the campaign!

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.

An access-to-information request from The Globe and Mail has revealed that Canada’s Communications Security Establishment has concerns about our nation’s network security. Specifically, the documents show that Huawei Technologies—a Chinese company that has become the world’s leading maker of telecom equipment—has been the subject of national security concerns. With all these security worries in the air, it seems strange that Ottawa should continue to consider a bill that could leave Canadians’ personal data less secure. Online spying bill C-30—a contentious piece of legislation that has provoked the ire of Canada’s privacy commissioners, legal experts, and wider public—could, if passed, lead to the creation of giant, unsecure registries of every Internet user’s personal data.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement continues to threaten our free speech, Internet privacy and due process. As negotiators behind the TPP continue to hide the text from public eyes, we've been taking to the Internet to voice our concerns. With your support, we're raising awareness of our StopTheTrap.net campaign and pushing for an open dialogue surrounding Internet Freedom. Find out more about the campaign against the TPP – and how it could affect you – as our Executive Director Steve Anderson speaks with Electronic Frontier Foundation. Interview and article by Carolina Rossini of EFF.org While US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who oversees the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), continues to declare that the trade negotiations are “the most open, transparent process ever,” we are confounded as to what he defines to be "open" or "transparent." They have yet to even provide the public — civil society organizations and policy makers — with any official documents relating to the text of the agreement. We are fighting for real transparency, which means access to the current draft documents or country proposals for provisions to into the agreement.

I spy with my little eye something that is missing from the government’s fall calendar. It’s something that’s been highly controversial, would become an invasive measure towards Internet surveillance, and would provide authorities with warrantless access to our private information. Out of guesses? It’s the hotly-contested Bill C-30, otherwise known as the online spying bill, that the government has so far omitted from their Parliamentary schedule. This is a huge victory for those who signed the StopSpying.ca petition, spread the word about the bill using our educational resources, or called on MPs to take a stand against warrantless online spying. Your participation in Canada’s Internet freedom movement is clearly making a difference—the government had initially committed to pushing this invasive and costly online spying bill through the legislative process within the first 100 sitting days of Parliament last year.

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.

Last month we brought you news on how it had been revealed that CSIS wanted to help 'advise' Vic Toews on rewriting Canada's Online Spying Bill C-30, all in the hopes that with their input the legislation would be passed through government. Although they want to bypass our Internet security and privacy as citizens, this past week their own internal security protocols have been called into question. In newly released documents it was shown that two employees were suspended following breaches late last year. Let's not allow CSIS to mishandle our own Internet security. Sign our petition to Stop Online Spying at http://openmedia.ca/StopSpying and tell your MP to stand against Bill C-30 at http://openmedia.ca/stand. Article by Jim Bronskill of The Canadian Press Two security breaches at Canada's spy agency prompted employee suspensions last year, newly released documents show. In the most serious case, a Canadian Security Intelligence Service employee was suspended for five days without pay following an incident involving information that "must be kept in the strictest of confidence and in full compliance with the need to know principle." The CSIS employee was found to be in violation of several aspects of the spy agency's conduct policy, including provisions on security, performance of duties, integrity and compliance with direction.

A few weeks ago, we shared how Richard Fadden, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, had put forth an offer to help justify and tweak the Online Spying Bill (C-30) to make it more 'palatable' to the Canadian public. This proposed alliance between Toews and CSIS was met with a resounding disapproval from the pro-Internet community. Our friends at Electronic Frontier Foundation have written about the new developments in Canada's fight against online spying. Let's tell CSIS that online spying will never be palatable to Canadians and that we're fed up with Bill C-30, join our petition and make your voice heard at http://StopSpying.ca. Article from the EFF: Canada’s online surveillance bill may be on hold for now, but a recent news article confirms that a rather formidable figure has been angling for its return: Richard Fadden, head of the Canadian equivalent of the FBI. Fadden, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), wrote in a letter that the highly contentious Bill C-30 was “vital” to protecting national security. The letter was sent to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, the driver behind Bill C-30, in late February. It was released to the Canadian Press in response to a request filed under the Access to Information Act.

CSIS has expressed interest in adding their own provisions to the online spying bill, in the hopes that it will be passed through government. Letting the security lobby write its own laws is not a step in the right direction. In fact, it suggests how dysfunctional the law-making process has become under Vic Toews. Laws should be citizen-centric, not lobbyist-centric. Tell your MP to stand against this invasion of privacy at http://www.openmedia.ca/stand. From CBC News: Canada's spy chief backs the Conservative government's troubled bid to bolster Internet surveillance powers, and has offered to help tweak the legislation to make it more palatable to a wary public.

Looks like Toews is looking for an escape route after insulting Canadians with his warrantless online spying plan (Bill C-30). We're continuing to press on with our StopSpying.ca campaign, but as for Toews the jury isn't out just yet. We’ll be keeping a watchful eye to see what he does next, even if it leads to a step down from federal politics. Until then, you owe us all an apology Vic. Article by Bruce Owen for the Winnipeg Free Press Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is destined for a new job on Manitoba's highest court, sources say. There are currently nine judges on the Manitoba Court of Appeal -- one works part time -- but one is due to retire shortly when he hits the compulsory retirement age of 75. There is also one opening on the Court of Queen's Bench that needs filling. Sources say Toews is in line for the Court of Appeal opening, but it's an appointment that does not have to be made immediately.

A recently unveiled border security agreement between Canada and its neighbour to the South requires Canada to step up security measures, and share more information on Canadians with the U.S. The new border deal will take the problem of the Canadian government spying on its citizens one step further, by adding the threat of Canadians’ personal information being exported to another country. With the help of the pro-Internet community, we have been battling this kind of (un)lawful access legislation since launching our Stop Online Spying campaign. The agreement’s declared goal is to make travel and cross-border business easier, and to reverse economically damaging border tie-ups that have been growing since 9/11. However, some real dangers concerning Canadians privacy rights are lurking beneath the surface.