Telcos gave spies unfettered, deep, warrantless access to Canadians' digital lives

Michael Geist writes, "The recent revelations regarding massive telecom and Internet provider disclosures of subscriber information has generated a political firestorm with pointed questions yesterday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the House of Commons. While Harper tried to provide reassurances that warrants were obtained where necessary, the reality is that the law includes a massive exception that permits voluntary, warrantless disclosure of subscriber information."

That suggests that the majority of the nearly 1.2 million requests in 2011 were not accompanied by a warrant. Moreover, the telecom and Internet providers have shrouded their activities in secrecy, refusing to disclose the disclosures to affected subscribers and hiding behind aggregated data to avoid scrutiny of their individual practices.

The issue is likely to continue to attract attention, particularly since the government is seeking to expand the warrantless disclosure framework in Bill C-13 (the lawful access bill) and Bill S-4 (the Digital Privacy Act). One further issue that should not be lost within the disclosure is the stunning admission that at least one Canadian provider may be allowing the government to mirror or copy of its subscriber communications.

Is a Canadian Telco Allowing the Government To Mirror Its Subscriber Communications?