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<h1 style="text-align: center;">Canadian government&nbsp;accesses telecom data&nbsp;of 1 in 30 canadians</h1>
<h2>[WHAT]</h2>
<ol>
<li>]&nbsp;On 2014-04-29 Alex Boutilier of the <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/04/29/telecoms_refuse_say_how_often_they_hand_over_customers_data.html" target="_blank">Toronto Star reported</a> that Canada's Privacy commission,&nbsp;revealed that&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Canadian Government Agencies</span> made <strong>over 1.2 millions requests</strong> for Canadian telecom subscriber's data in 2011, Canadas population in 2011 was approximately 34.3 million, that works out to the Canadian government&nbsp;requesting data on approximately 1 in&nbsp;30 of it's citizens.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<h3 style="padding-left: 30px;">It&rsquo;s not clear from the report what information was sought by agencies, how much data was released, or what <span style="text-decoration: underline;">judicial oversight</span> &mdash; if any &mdash; was involved.</h3>
<h3 style="padding-left: 60px;">Alex Boutilier, Reporter @&nbsp;Toronto Star </h3>
<h3 style="padding-left: 30px;">"We have tried, many times. We have sought out information from the telecoms to find out, and they&rsquo;ve given us very general comments,&rdquo;</h3>
<h3 style="padding-left: 60px;">Chantal Bernier, interim <span style="text-decoration: underline;">privacy commissioner</span></h3>
<h2>[WHY]</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>]&nbsp;which government agencies are requesting the data</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>secret</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] the telecom companies keep <span style="text-decoration: underline;">detailed records</span> of <span style="text-decoration: underline;">access requests</span> by government authorities, but do not report the numbers publicly.</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>secret</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] do the telecom companies inform their subscribers that they are handing over <span style="text-decoration: underline;">their data</span> to a government agency</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>no</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] will the telecom companies inform the privacy commisioner what data is being turned over</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>no</li>
</ol></ol>
<h2>[WHERE -&nbsp;this gets really disturbing]</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>] the data that <span style="text-decoration: underline;">your telecom company</span> keeps on you</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] <a href="http://www.citynews.ca/2013/10/22/bell-to-track-customers-web-history-tv-viewing-phone-calls-mobile-usage/" target="_blank">http://www.citynews.ca/2013/10/22/bell-to-track-customers-web-history-tv-viewing-phone-calls-mobile-usage/</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] that the governments <a href="http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/04/11/why_the_governments_new_digital_privacy_act_puts_your_privacy_at_risk.html" target="_blank">proposed new legislation</a>&nbsp;, <a href="http://openparliament.ca/bills/41-2/S-4/" target="_blank">bill S4</a></strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] will actually expand the number of organizations that can ask telecoms and social media companies to voluntarily hand over their customers&rsquo; information, and protect those companies from civil or criminal lawsuits.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Michael Geist, one of Canada&rsquo;s leading Internet privacy experts, said&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;It is a structure that allows for the massive disclosure of personal information with no court oversight whatsoever,&rdquo;</li>
</ol></ol>
<h2>[WHEN]</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>] Bell( 1 of the 3 major canadian telecom companies)&nbsp;spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] &ldquo;Any request for information about lawful access activities should be made to the law enforcement agencies involved,&rdquo;</li>
<li><span style="background-color: #c0c0c0;">&gt; you see how this goes around in a circle here,</span></li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] The Department of Public Safety</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] declined an interview request by the Star</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>]&nbsp;Industry Minister James Moore,</strong> (whose department is responsible for the telecom sector, )</li>
<ol>
<li>] refused to comment on the story</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] James Moore, in response to a question in the House of Commons&nbsp;on April 30 said</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, section 7, spells out very clearly the kinds of information that are being sought by different agencies of the government, they all relate to public safety, national security, and criminal investigations. That is what this is about.</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, addresses the concerns</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] I obviously do not accept the premise of that question.</li>
<li>] What we do understand is that various Canadian investigative law enforcement and other agencies will, <strong>from time to time, request information</strong> from telecom companies. They always do this in accordance with the law. They always seek a warrant when they are required to do so. Of course, we expect the telecom companies to also respect the law in all of their dealings.</li>
</ol></ol>
<h2>[EXAMPLE - some 'highlights'&nbsp;from the new s4 legislation]</h2>
<ol>
<li>] (c) permit organizations, for certain purposes, to collect, use and disclose, <strong>without the knowledge or consent</strong> of an individual, personal information</li>
<li>] (d) permit organizations, for certain purposes, to use and disclose, <strong>without the knowledge or consent</strong> of an individual, personal <em><strong>information related to prospective or completed business transactions</strong></em>;</li>
<li>] (e) permit federal works, undertakings and businesses to collect, use and disclose personal information, without the knowledge or consent of an individual, to establish, manage or terminate their employment relationships with the individual</li>
<li>(k) <strong>modify the information</strong> that the Privacy Commissioner may make public if he or she considers that it is in the public interest to do so.</li>
</ol>
<h2>[HOW-TO]</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>] contact your mp</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] this <a href="http://www.parl.gc.ca/Parliamentarians/en/members" target="_blank">government web page</a> provides contact information ( email&nbsp;+)&nbsp; for all of the current Canadian Members of Parlament,</li>
</ol>
<li><strong>] i wrote my MP, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">expressing my concerns</span>,</strong></li>
<ol>
<li>] i will update this article&nbsp;with <span style="text-decoration: underline;">his reply</span> when i receive it.</li>
</ol></ol>
<h2>[SUMMARY(TLDR) - TIL]</h2>
<ol>
<li>] Mulitiple undisclosed government agencies&nbsp;accessed the data that telecom companies collected on&nbsp;their subscribers,&nbsp;of approximately 1 in 30 Canadians</li>
<li>] the government is not answering any questions about which agencies access the data, what data they accessed or why.</li>
<li>] the government&nbsp;states that all warrantless access to this data is done in the interests of Public Safety, National Security or Criminal Investigations.&nbsp;</li>
<li>] the government is introducing new legislation that will greatly increase their powers to access.</li>
<li>] the telecom companies are greatly increasing the data that they are keeping on their users.</li>
</ol>
<h2>[REFERENCE]</h2>
<ol>
<li>] <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo02a-eng.htm" target="_blank">http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo02a-eng.htm</a></li>
</ol>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</h1>

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