Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner Points Out Serious Faults of Proposed Online Spying Bills

Today, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian wrote an open letter to Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews and Minister of Justice Robert Nicholson, in which she voiced concerns about the Federal Government's proposed online spying bills ("Lawful Access"). The letter comes soon after Canada's Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart wrote Minister Toews urging him to rewrite the legislation. In her letter, Cavoukian stressed that new policing power should not compromise Canadians' constitutional rights. The proposed bills would augment the state's surveillance capacity while reducing judicial checks and balances that protect the privacy of Canadians. Cavoukian, like Stoddart, stressed the importance of rewriting the bills so that they include "sufficient safeguards for the protection of our fundamental rights and freedoms today."

You can read Cavoukian's letter to Toews and Nicholson below.

The letters of Cavoukian and Stoddart to the Ministers reinforce OpenMedia.ca's call to join the 75,000 plus Canadians, who have taken a stand against online spying, by signing the petition at http://StopSpying.ca.