News Digest - September 19, 2013
Canada, CSEC and mass surveillance

Real privacy means oversight

 

A comment signed Ann Cavoukian, Ron Deibert, Andrew Clement and Nathalie Des Rosiers


The Globe and Mail 16/09/2013 - A rare disclosure offers a glimpse at CSEC's intimate partnership with one of the world's most powerful intelligence agencies - and serves as a reminder that Canadians shouldn't be complacent, or look down at Americans for allowing the NSA so much unsupervised power. CSEC is part of the so-called "Five Eyes"
signals intelligence alliance, stretching back to the Second World War, so it's difficult to believe that the latest revelation is the only one of its kind. What else has CSEC been doing that Canadians should be worried about? In democratic societies, governments must be accessible and transparent to their citizens. And individuals must be free to make informed choices about what personal details to reveal about their lives. Governments are permitted to access personal information only when authorized by law. When it comes to the state's power to conduct surveillance, critical privacy protections must include independent oversight.

 

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To protect Canadians' privacy, telcos must shut the 'back door'

 

The Globe and Mail 16/09/2013 - At the most fundamental level, back doors are bad engineering. By creating vulnerabilities-by-design, back doors are left open that can be exploited not just by the good guys, but by criminals and other adversaries as well. Such a null scheme is like building a house with a permanently unlocked door and then hoping that only those who have built the house and have the plans will know about it. Meanwhile, the Internet is full of automated tools that allow even unsophisticated users to do the equivalent of automatically checking millions of door handles across thousands of neighborhoods in a split second to see which are locked, and which are not.

 

Read more 

 

Canada complicit in undermining Internet privacy 

   

Ottawa sought broader access to smartphone user data, records show 

US, NSA and mass surveillance  

Pentagon Papers' James C. Goodale: The outrageous NSA opinion

The Daily Beast - 19/09/2013 - The opinion states that the next action on the program must be taken by Congress since only a political question remains as to whether the program should be continued. This was because the court  concluded the program was totally legal. This opinion can be viewed as no more than a public-nullrelations release for the court and, by extension, the Obama administration. Its timing is notably suspect. Renewals of this authority have taken place as a matter of course for years without the need for a constitutional ruling. It puts the court in the middle of the debate as to whether the program should be continued. The opinion therefore is more political than legal.

Read more

Extended ruling by secret court backs collection of phone data

Judge urges U.S. to consider releasing N.S.A. data on calls

The Guardian 17/09/2013 -
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has scrapped a scheduled state visit to the White House amid Brazilian outrage over news that the U.S. spied on her and a Brazilian oil company. The cancellation of the Oct. 23 visit is the first public diplomatic fallout null prompted by the revelations of National Security Agency spying and represents a serious rift between the two economic powerhouses and trading partners. Obama spoke with Rousseff by phone Monday, and White House spokesman Jay Carney said they agreed to postpone the state visit - which would have been the first of Obama's second term.
 
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Anti-terrorism legislation           
Border security               
Drones                
Guantanamo
Islamophobia
Rule of law     

Surveillance and technology 



Terrorism

War on terror        
Miscellaneous         

 
IN THIS ISSUE...
- Ottawa: shut the back door; Real privacy means oversight
- Secret court says NSA spy program is legal - it's a political farce; Rousseff cancels dinner with Obama
- More news
 

The views expressed in this News Digest do not necessarily reflect the positions of ICLMG

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-eight Canadian civil society organizations that was established in the aftermath of the September, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.


Event  

Kafka Revisited: An Evening with Dr. Hassan Diab  
 

Friday September 27, 2013

7:00 - 9:00 PM
Beit Zatoun House, 612 Markham Street, Toronto, Ontario

 

 

Speakers: 

Hassan Diab - Hear from the man who has been facing Kafkaesque extradition proceedings since 2008.
Barbara Jackman - Attorney and human rights advocate.
Daniel Sheppard - Attorney and member of Hassan's legal team.

The evening will also feature:
Live musical entertainment
Poetry reading
Raffle and silent auction
Complimentary snacks and refreshments

Admission is free. All are welcome. Bring your family and friends!

 

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Website 

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