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Immigration and refugee rights
Canada looks to put GPS bracelets on more migrants
The Globe and Mail 27/06/2013 - The Canadian government is looking at whether to expand the use of satellite technology to monitor asylum seekers or potential immigrants who would otherwise be detained, and is upgrading the equipment that would allow it to do so. Ottawa served notice this week that it plans to sign a contract with the U.K. firm Buddi Ltd., used by police forces there to track criminals through electronic bracelet devices that the British media  have dubbed "Chav Nav" tags. The technology provides real-time tracking using the same space-based Global Positioning System that drivers rely upon for in-car navigation. Right now the Canadian Border Services Agency says it is monitoring just four people via electronic bracelets. But it said it's examining a broader use of the technology. "The CBSA is currently studying other alternatives to detention, including the potential for making greater use of electronic monitoring as a viable, cost-effective alternative to detention," agency spokeswoman Amitha Carnadin said. "Officers always consider the impact that releasing someone into the community would have on the safety of Canadians." |
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Privacy
Poor data-breach tracking, reporting concerns federal privacy commissioner
The Canadian Press 24/06/2013 -
Canada's privacy czar has singled out several federal departments for their lacklustre approach to data breaches, citing a need for better reporting, security and tracking protocols.  Privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart's office has compiled a preliminary list of agencies with potentially worrisome patterns when it comes to the loss of Canadians' personal information. The analysis is based on departmental figures tabled in Parliament in April in response to a question from New Democrat MP Charlie Angus. The response indicated there were more than 3,000 data breaches over a 10-year period affecting about 725,000 Canadians. Customs: The privacy watchdog says she is worried
La Presse 26/06/2013 - The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, says she is worried by the lack of collaboration and respect for the rules demonstrated by the Canadian Border Security Agency which is in charge of monitoring the country's border in a letter dating back to October and addressed to CBSA's president, Luc Portelance. La Presse  obtained the document through the Access to Information Act. The targeted initiatives include the recording of travelers' conversations in Canadian airports, which implementation provoked an outcry last year. "This program raised important concerns regarding the protection of privacy of Canadians", writes Ms. Stoddard. "We are concerned that the future implementation of this program is planned before the evaluation of the factors relative to privacy will be completed".
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Mass surveillance in the US
Indefinite Surveillance: Say Hello to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014
TruthOut 18/06/2013 - Passed in 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) set the groundwork for surveillance, collection, and analysis of intelligence gathered from foreign powers and agents of foreign powers, up to and including any individual residing within the U.S., who were suspected of involvement in potential terrorist activity. On October 26, 2001, a little over  a month after 9/11, President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law. Two provisions, Sec. 206, permitting government to obtain secret court orders allowing roving wiretaps without requiring identification of the person, organization, or facility to be surveyed, and Sec. 215 authorizing government to access and obtain "any tangible thing" relevant to a terrorist investigation, transformed foreign intelligence into domestic intelligence. NDAA 2014 builds on the powers granted by both the Patriot Act and FISA by allowing unrestricted analysis and research of captured records pertaining to any organization or individual "now or once hostile to the United States". Under the Patriot Act, the ability to obtain "any tangible thing" eliminated any expectation of privacy. Under NDAA 2014 Sec. 1061(g)(1), an overly vague definition of captured records enhances government power and guarantees indefinite surveillance.Read more
NSA collected US email records in bulk for more than two years under Obama
The Guardian 27/06/2013 - The Obama administration for more than two years permitted the National Security Agency to continue collecting vast amounts of records detailing the email and internet usage of Americans, according to secret documents obtained by the Guardian. The documents indicate that under the program, launched in 2001, a federal judge sitting on the secret surveillance panel called the Fisa court would approve a bulk collection order for internet metadata "every 90 days". A senior  administration official confirmed the program, stating that it ended in 2011. The collection of these records began under the Bush administration's wide-ranging warrantless surveillance program, collectively known by the NSA codename Stellar Wind. According to a top-secret draft report by the NSA's inspector general - published for the first time today by the Guardian - the agency began "collection of bulk internet metadata" involving "communications with at least one communicant outside the United States or for which no communicant was known to be a citizen of the United States". Eventually, the NSA gained authority to "analyze communications metadata associated with United States persons and persons believed to be in the United States", according to a 2007 Justice Department memo, which is marked secret. Read moreHow the NSA is still harvesting your online dataThe top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrantNSA takes surveillance fact sheets off websiteChicago federal court case raises questions about NSA surveillanceGreenwald: NSA director is 'misleading' the publicEcuador offers U.S. rights aid, waives trade benefitsBen Hayes - After PRISM: on Power, Trust and AccountabilityBooz Allen, the world's most profitable spy organizationU.S. charges Snowden with espionageOpinion: On the Espionage Act charges against Edward SnowdenOpinion: The NSA's metastasized intelligence-industrial complex is ripe for abuseNSA leaker Snowden in Moscow airport, Putin says, and won't be extradited
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Border security
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Criminalization of dissent
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Guantanamo
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Islamophobia
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National security
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No fly list
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State secrecy
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Surveillance
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Torture
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War on terror
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Miscellenaous
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The views expressed in this News Digest do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG
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What is the News Digest?
The News Digest is ICLMG's weekly publication of news articles, events, calls to action and much more regarding national security, anti-terrorism, civil liberties and other issues related to the mandate and concerns of ICLMG and its member organizations. The ICLMG is a national coalition of thirty-nine Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
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Take action
Tell Harper: No Secret Spying!
Openmedia.ca - According to online surveillance expert Ron Deibert, a secretive Canadian government agency is collecting our sensitive private information, giving them  the power to "pinpoint not only who you are, but with whom you meet, with what frequency and duration, and at which locations." We need to use this moment-when privacy issues are in the spotlight-to get answers. Call on the government to stop this secretive spying scheme, and to tell Canadians exactly what's going on. We deserve to know
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Take action
Be Heard - No Attack Drones!
The Rideau Institute and Ceasefire.ca invite you to tell Stephen Harper, other party leaders, and your own MP that you do not support attack drones. Send your letter, right away.  |
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Take action
Why are you proud to protect refugees?
Following recent changes to Canada's refugee determination system, it may be tougher to protect refugees in Canada.  Join the Canadian Council for Refugees in showing Canadians and the world why we are still proud to protect refugees and refugee rights.
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Take action
Campaign to stop the deportation of
Jose Figueroa intensifies
Supporters of Jose Figueroa are calling on Jason Kenney, the Minister of Immigration, to intervene and stop his deportation to El Salvador, and for Vic Toews, the Minister of Public Safety to make clear his position on the matter. More than a thousand signatures  were on a petition delivered to Parliament Friday. The campaign to keep the Figueroa family united has intensified since a recent Immigration decision accepted his wife's application to stay in Canada, but denied Mr. Figueroa based on Section 34(1) of the Act: "membership in an organization that engages in terrorism." People from the WE ARE JOSE campaign believe this to be an error and ask you to act to keep Figueroa family together in Langley, BC.
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