Privacy Commissioner Denham to join panelists at (un)Lawful Access screening & BCCLA report release

“Canadians are hugely concerned about online surveillance,” said Micheal Vonn, policy director of the BC Civil Liberties Association. “But there has been a lot of confusion because the government continues to insist that the new laws will only allow police to access insignificant information, like the kind you would find in a phone book. Privacy experts know this isn’t true and have said so.”

Now, with the launch of the BCCLA’s Lawful Access report, says Vonn, anyone interested can read a clear and detailed overview of the proposals and see for themselves what is at stake for Canadians.

Under the pressure of OpenMedia.ca’s 75,000+ signature petition and viral videos with over 100,000 views, the government omitted its online spying bills from the omnibus crime package at the end of September. The embattled plan could, however, be tabled in Parliament any day.

Report Highlights

Although justified as necessary “modernization”, or as a means to simply “keep up with criminals”, the consequences of the proposed online spying legislation are deeply problematic:

• They would take advantage of new technologies, new modes of communication and new social practices to significantly expand access by police to the personal information of law abiding Canadians;
• Their lawfulness under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is questionable;
• They have lower evidentiary standards—or in the case of subscriber data, no evidentiary standards at all—further eroding protection against state surveillance;
• They require telecommunications service providers to be fully intercept-capable (i.e., to build a surveillance architecture into their networks);
• They create new security risks of unauthorized access and cyber-security attacks through the creation of a “back door” for police;
• There is no proposal for meaningful oversight of warrantless access powers or to account publicly for warrantless access to Canadians online data

The BCCLA’s new report is important, says Vonn, because “it explains each of the proposals and looks at how the courts are likely to view the balancing of law enforcement and citizens’ rights.”

Panelists

Elizabeth Denham, BC Information and Privacy Commissioner
Micheal Vonn, Policy Director, BC Civil Liberties Association
Christopher Parsons, co-author of Moving Toward a Surveillance Society – Proposals to Expand “Lawful Access” in Canada
Kate Milberry, PhD, Producer of (Un)Lawful Access

Format

6:30 PM: Doors
7:00 PM: Screening (14 minutes) and panel discussion
9:00 PM: Audience discussion

(Un)Lawful Access was produced with generous funding from The New Transparency: Surveillance and Social Sorting. Special thanks to the W2 Media Cafe for co-sponsoring this event.

About OpenMedia.ca

OpenMedia.ca is a non-profit organization that safeguards the open and affordable Internet. The group works towards informed & participatory digital policy.

About the Stop Online Spying Coalition

The Stop Online Spying campaign is supported by a group of public interest organizations, civil liberties groups, businesses, and concerned academics that have come together to encourage the government to reconsider "Lawful Access" legislation. The group points out that this type of legislation enables warrantless surveillance that is invasive, excessive and costly. Over 75,000 Canadians have signed the Stop Online Spying petition at http://stopspying.ca

Contact

Lindsey Pinto
Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca
778-238-7710
[email protected]

More Information

The Stop Online Spying Campaign
http://StopSpying.ca
http://openmedia.ca/educate
http://openmedia.ca/mp
http://openmedia.ca/screening

Survey indicates vast majority of Canadians oppose warrantless online spying
http://www.openmedia.ca/blog/survey-indicates-vast-majority-canadians-oppose-warrantless-online-spying

Techvibes: OpenMedia's petition wins battle against online spying but the war is far from over
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/openmedias-petition-wins-battle-against-online-spying-but-the-war-is-far-from-over-2011-09-20

Globe and Mail: Conservative majority would hustle crime bills into law all at once
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-majority-would-hustle-crime-bills-into-law-all-at-once/article1975719/

Joint letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from academics and public interest organizations
http://openmedia.ca/letter-prime-minister-stephen-harper-response-lawful-access

NDP MPs Angus & Sandhu write to Toews: Online spying bills are "disturbing"
http://openmedia.ca/blog/ndp-mps-angus-sandhu-write-toews-online-spying-bills-are-disturbing

Letter to Public Safety Canada from Canada's Privacy Commissioners and Ombudspersons on the current 'Lawful Access' proposals
http://www.priv.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2011/let_110309_e.cfm

National Post: Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian: Privacy invasion shouldn’t be ‘lawful’
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/10/31/privacy-commissioner-ann-cavoukian-privacy-invasion-shouldn%E2%80%99t-be-%E2%80%98lawful%E2%80%99/

More links: http://openmedia.ca/stopspying/resources#links