Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, May 05, 2014

Feds lack accountability in dealing with Canadians’ private info: privacy czar

Canada’s privacy watchdog says there’s an accountability gap when it comes to how and why government agencies access private information.

In an interview on the West Block with Tom Clark, Interim Privacy Commissioner Chantal Bernier said a lack of transparency in the system means she has no way of knowing whether government agencies and telecommunications companies are following the rules.

“We don’t know. I mean that is really the issue here is the fact that we don’t know. We were seeking some kind of specificity around this exchange (of information),” said Bernier.

Currently government departments and agencies can ask internet and cell phone companies for their customers’ private information without having a warrant and without notifying Canadians that their information is being accessed.

The law is designed this way so that in cases where there’s an immediate threat to life or national security, telecommunications companies are empowered to cooperate with law enforcement agencies, without those agencies needing to produce a warrant for information.

While this isn’t a new rule, the issue came to the forefront Wednesday after media reports found in 2011 government departments and agencies requested information nearly 1.2 million times. As privacy expert Michael Geist points out, that’s once every 27 seconds.

Despite the staggering number Bernier doesn’t dispute the need for those rules. “I agree with Canadians that in privacy law, probably there the balance is right between privacy and public safety. The point is that we need a record of that. We need accountability.”

The privacy watchdog says there’s a simple fix to what she calls an accountability gap. Her office has asked for a legislative amendment that would require all telecommunications companies to provide statistics on how often they disclose information and under what circumstances. For example, with or without a warrant.

“Then at least, we would have an idea of the scope of this practice,” said Bernier.

However, requests for more transparency in the process have so far fallen on deaf ears. Last May and again in January Canada’s Privacy Commissioner released reports calling for mandatory reporting. But the Digital Privacy Act introduced in the Senate on April 8 does not contain the legislative amendment proposed by privacy commissioner’s office.

Global News asked Industry Minister James Moore’s office whether he would consider amending the bill to include Bernier’s recommendations. His office provided the following statement: “The Minister spoke with the Privacy Commissioner Wednesday on this subject and our Government will continue conversations regarding digital privacy. In the coming weeks, Parliament will debate Bill S-4 and committees will hear from expert witnesses, including the Privacy Commissioner. We look forward to this debate on how we can best protect Canadians in our digital world.”

Original Article
Source: globalnews.ca/
Author: Staff   Global News

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