Law Times

Law Times • February 6, 2012 NEWS PAGE 5 BY KENDYL SEBESTA Law Times ans' personal lives without a warrant could lead to a downward spiral of unchecked surveillance for years to come, Ontario's information and privacy commissioner is warning. On Jan. 27, Ann Cavoukian T joined several civil liberties advo- cates at a symposium in downtown Toronto in criticizing the bills, C-50, C-51, and C-52, that would give police more freedom to survey sus- pects online. The trio of bills would allow police to access e-mails, phone numbers, individuals' locations, their transactions, and other infor- mation on the Internet without a warrant. The legislation would also compel other parties to preserve electronic evidence and require In- ternet service providers and other technology makers to create back doors for police seeking informa- tion. They'd still need a warrant to view that information. The govern- ment had originally introduced the bills during Parliament's last ses- sion, but they died when it called the 2011 election. But critics warn the bills would significantly undermine judicial oversight of police. "My specific objection to the legislation is the lack of court authorization for ac- cess to private information," said Cavoukian during the symposium at the MaRS Discovery District in he federal government's reintroduction of legisla- tion that would allow po- lice to peer into Canadi- Toronto. "The warrant is a critical and integral part of the process. It ensures accountability and over- sight that is so critical to our de- mocracy and freedom as a society." Cavoukian argued that bill C-52 in particular would constrain judicial oversight of police surveil- lance, a move that could open the doors to abuse. "The proposed surveillance regime will have a sub- stantial impact on law enforcement in Ontario and the very way it func- tions," she said. "It will expand police pow- ers without providing any added resources to make sure the right amount of oversight is taking place. Bill C-52 in particular relies heavily on provincial and territorial privacy commissioners to audit police com- pliance with the provisions of the bill relating to warrantless access to subscriber information but doesn't provide the resources or audit pow- ers necessary to do that." But a spokesman for Canada's public safety minister shot back against the criticism last week, say- ing in an e-mail to Law Times that claims that the legislation would allow police to read Canadians' pri- vate electronic information without a warrant are "baseless." "No legislation proposed by Conservative our government will allow police to unlawfully read electronic communications without a warrant. Claims to the contrary are baseless," said Mike Patton, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. "Our approach strikes an appropriate balance between the investigative 'My specific objection to the legislation is the lack of court authorization for access to private information,' says Ann Cavoukian. powers used to protect public safe- ty and the necessity to safeguard the privacy of Canadians." But Alan Borovoy, former gen- eral counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, rejected that notion, noting that while police may need warrants to read elec- tronic information about suspects, they're not necessary to access it. "There's a tremendous inva- sion of individual privacy every time these types of technologies are used to access private infor- mation," Borovoy said during the symposium. "Why not require police to notify anyone who can be reasonably identified that they have been spied upon, the idea be- ing that when they use this type of system, we've built uncomforts so as to deter them from using and possibly abusing it in the future." The increasing accessibility of online personal information makes the need for precautions particu- larly great, said John Villasenor of the Brookings Institution. "Right now, we're 1 million times better at storing information than we are at curing cancer," said Villasenor. "We can pinpoint the location of an individual within 15 feet all within 46 bits, essentially ones and zeros on a computer screen. We can record every phone con- versation someone has and every location they will ever visit. People would be shocked if they knew how much information they are really putting online, let alone what could potentially be accessed." The result, said CCLA general counsel Nathalie Des Rosiers, is a barrage of potential privacy abuses. "There is always the possibility that police could simply ask for more information beyond what the law allows," said Des Rosiers. "This could not only lead to the routine use of private information but could normalize that access to information, making data mining the way policing is done. You never go forward in increasing police powers without having a frame- work for accountability, and there is none here." Cavoukian isn't alone among privacy commissioners warning about the bills. Federal privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, for example, recently warned Toews in an open letter about the expanded police powers, noting that "only prior court authoriza- tion provides the rigorous privacy protection Canadians expect." For her part, Cavoukian said she believes the issues will continue to arise. "We're only seeing the tip of the iceberg with what's to come. . . . Privacy is not about secrecy. It is about individuals having control over what information is available and the ability and freedom to choose. We have to guard against the chipping away of our privacy and we need to stop surveillance by design to protect the rights and freedoms of us all." The lawful access bills Bill C-50: Allows police to access and track electronic com- munications through multiple intercept and tracking warrants and production orders. Bill C-51: Gives police new powers to obtain court orders that allow remote live tracking and requires Internet ser- vice providers and other companies to give informa- tion to police seeking data on a suspect. Bill C-52: Requires Internet service providers to create back doors in their networks for use by police and gives police warrantless power to access subscriber infor- mation. LT Law Times congratulates the 149 new lawyers who were called to the bar on Jan. 27 at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. Among those present were Superior Court Chief Justice Heather Smith, on whom the law society conferred an Robert Abonyi Cemal Acikgoz Imran Akram Ayderus Abdusalam Alawi Daniela Algieri Hussein Linus Ali Maria Virginia Anzola Reyes Philip Matthew Aubry Lebano-Peter Azzi Patrick Bakos Efstathios Christos Stephen Balopoulos Harval Singh Bassi Richard Christopher Michael Belsito Alison Suzanne Book Ghislain Joseph Pierre Bourbonnais Cristina Bourikos Genevieve Grace Boyer de la Giroday Thomas Yin Wai Card Diego Salvador Cariaga Lema Clara Déa Françoise Chapdelaine-Feliciati Audel Jason Cunningham John Brady Cunningham Doury Dagher Mireille Dahab Moira Joanne Andrea Daly Sandra De Bartolo Diana Margaret De Rose Stefan Alexander De Smit Louis James DelSignore Michele Marino Discepola Afia Birago Donkor Tara Leigh Doolan Lauren Heidi Doughty Harjit Singh Dubb Marc Alexander Ducharme Benjamin Ryan Dwyer Peter Martin Bernd Eberhard Olutoyin Bamide Ehinlaiye Meena Mark Atef Fahmy Robert Harrison William Leone Finkelberg Christopher M Fitch Michael Alexander Smith French Eva Marie Frengopoulos Anne Deirdre Hamilton Fyfe Randhir Singh Garcha Samira Ghalyai Cherif Rafik Ghobrial Colin Howard Glazer Brandon Neil Goodman Sara Sheri Greenberg Ritu Gupta Kyle Gordon Hampson Daniel Nicholas Hartrell Layla Yasmine Assaf Hassan Gregory Ian Hayes Jeffrey David Haylock Alvin Hwang Olukemi Olaide Ibitoye Solape Ilori Chan Phanath Im Ravichandran Ch Iyer Imron Rauf Janjua Satinder Kaur Johal Susan Surjit Johal Matthew Lewis Slack Kanter Behar Massoud Karbakhsh Ravari Athena Tina Kaye Daniel Joseph Krongold Kennedy Ferrah Keshwani Kristina Sofia Kiskis Gary James Knox Jung Ah Kwon Aline Labaki Pui Lim Lai Remi Guy Lalonde Michael Charles Leach honorary doctor of laws for "her distinguished legal career, which has been marked by her ongoing passion for sound judicial process, good governance, and the better administration of justice." Jean-Sébastien Joseph Lessard Shea Faye Lewis Xiu Hui Liu Julie Frances Lowe Christian Stefan Malciw Joshvinder Singh Malhi Andrew Joseph Maloney Aurora Therese Mancuso Jai Kumar Mangalwadi Carla Diana Manias Adam Jeffrey Manna Lindall Strand Mc Donald Jamie Lynne McGinnis Daniel Robert Micak Jennifer Millson Adam Mohamed Moftah Mayo Moran Jean-François Morin Sudip Mukherjee Paul Morgan Murphy Desislava Ianko Nikolova Michael Novak Helen Mary Nowak Treasa Susan O'Loghlin Brian Daniel O'Neill Peter Crawford Oliver Jennifer Margaret Louise Omand Margaret Mary Osadet Tony Ka Chu Pak Jennifer Park Rose Park Sunil Kirit Patel John Michael Alexander Patrick Morgen Elizabeth Patterson Matthew John Payten Marina Pollak Papkov Tracey Marie Powell James Harper Prowse www.lawtimesnews.com Varinder Singh Purewal Shruthi Raman Dinabandhu Rath Shobita Comondore Ravindran Angus MacLean Rennie Laura Ruberto Jeffrey Chaim Rybak Michael Francesco Salerno Natalie Isabelle Sanchez Surya Kant Sasan Sergiy Semenovych Amandeep Singh Sidhu Rachel Ilana Hecht Silber Marie-Louise Skafte Desiree Ashley Smith Sharan Sodhi Ziou Song Young-Kyung Son-Wilkening Paula Frances Stefanic Vladyslav Strashko Joel Allan Sumner Hashim Hussain Syed Kathleen Sylvestre Strachan Jennifer Terrilyn Taylor Carine Taza Matthew David Thomas Thorpe Spencer Frederick Toole Harneeta Toor Tiran Diran Tutunjian Leonard Ho Yin Wan Sara Nehama Weinrib Thomas Adam Leslie Whillier Marc André Wolfe Anita Yektaeian Parisima Zandi Source: Law Society of Upper Canada Privacy commissioner slams lawful access bills

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