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Canada, CSEC and mass surveillanceBeware of data spying, former NSA official warns CanadiansThe Globe and Mail 19/09/2013 - A former top U.S. surveillance official is heading north, to warn Canadians that they, too, could become susceptible to massive data-spying programs launched by their own government. "Every  democracy is going this way," William Binney, a former technical director of the U.S. National Security Agency, said ahead of a planned trip to a civil-liberties conference in Toronto on Friday. "Unless democracies wake up and start saying 'We don't want our government to hold this data,' then they have a really good chance of losing their democracy." During his career, he said, he had many opportunities to assess the capabilities of Canada's electronic-eavesdropping technicians. And "some of them are as good as anybody over here." Read moreStop the asterisks! CSEC can and does intercept the communications of Canadians
Can citizens roll back silent army of watchers? A comment signed by David Lyon
The Toronto Star 23/09/2013 - Asking questions is long overdue. Fears fanned by 9/11 "security" and the fun fostered by Facebook distracts us from what's really going on: the surveillance playing field now tilts perilously in favour of large organizations and away from individuals and groups. Such surveillance undermines our relationship as citizens to the state - we may naively comply but  we didn't consent. Internet companies, too, should be hearing from us. It's not just that someone might find out things about us that they have no need to know - important though that is - it's that government and corporations intercept and analyze our data, sorting us into categories for differential treatment. Canada, blessed with much better personal data protection than many other countries and a long history of innovative thinking about communications, could still take the lead in reversing the trend toward unwarranted and disproportionate surveillance. The so-called digital era is not self-propelling, nor is it inevitably destructive of trust or care for vulnerable groups. It's up to us to keep up the pressure for answers and, more important, for public debate on surveillance today. Read more
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Canada and state secrecy
Secret case keeps Freeman from coming home A comment signed by Matthew Behrens rabble.ca 23/09/2013 - Anytime a government wants to hide its errors and illegality, it pulls down the shades of national security confidentiality and refuses to disclose any information. Time and again, the Canadian government's own cries for  secrecy have been found to be without substance. In the long-running case of Gary Freeman, the federal government has now invoked national security secrecy on what appears to be a foundation so slim that the slightest breeze will blow it away. Based on unsubstantiated newspaper articles and a secret file neither he nor his lawyer is allowed to see, the Canadian government alleges Freeman should not be allowed to live with his Mississauga family based on "reasonable grounds to believe" that it's possible that he may have been, could be, or will be a member of an organization that may have in the past, could at present, or may in future engage in terrorism.
Read more
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US, NSA and mass surveillance
The Associated Press 22/09/2013 - Stung by public unease about new details of spying by the National Security Agency, President Barack Obama selected a panel of advisers he described as independent experts to scrutinize the NSA's surveillance programs to be sure they weren't violating civil liberties and to restore Americans' trust. But with just weeks remaining before its first deadline to report back to the White House, the  review panel has effectively been operating as an arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the NSA and all other U.S. spy efforts. The panel's advisers work in offices on loan from the DNI. Interview requests and press statements from the review panel are carefully coordinated through the DNI's press office. James Clapper, the intelligence director, exempted the panel from U.S. rules that require federal committees to conduct their business and their meetings in ways the public can observe. Its final report, when it's issued, will be submitted for White House approval before the public can read it.Read more Brazilian president: US surveillance a 'breach of international law'
The Guardian 24/09/2013 - Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, has launched a blistering attack on US espionage at the UN general assembly, accusing the NSA of violating international law by its indiscriminate collection of personal information of Brazilian citizens and economic espionage targeted on the country's strategic  industries. Rousseff's angry speech was a direct challenge to President Barack Obama, who was waiting in the wings to deliver his own address to the UN general assembly, and represented the most serious diplomatic fallout to date from the revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Rousseff had already put off a planned visit to Washington in protest at US spying, after NSA documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the US electronic eavesdropping agency had monitored the Brazilian president's phone calls, as well as Brazilian embassies and spied on the state oil corporation, Petrobras. Read moreBrazil's controversial plan to extricate the internet from US controlIndia among top targets of spying by NSA |
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Academic freedom
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Anti-terrorist laws and charities
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Biometrics
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Border security
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Criminalization of dissent
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Drones
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Freedom of the press
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Guantanamo
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Immigration and refugee rights
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National security
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Omar Khadr
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Privacy
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Rule of law
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State secret
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Surveillance and technology
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Terrorism
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War on terror
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Miscellaneous
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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-eight 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
Support Harkat and the fight against security certificates
On October 10, Mohamed Harkat will be in the Supreme Court of Canada for the second time in 7 years, to challenge, the constitutionality of Security Certificates, the protection of informants and the continued use of destroyed material - Canada's secret trials in which no charges are laid and the detained and their lawyers have no access to the evidence. 
Please pack the Supreme Court of Canada on October 10th, 2013 at 9am.
301 Wellington Street, Ottawa. Plan to arrive early to pass through security.
More details
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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!
Facebook event
Website
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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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