Michael Geist writes, "Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is
fast-tracking a bill that eviscerates privacy protections within the
public sector that represents the most significant reduction in public
sector privacy protection in Canadian history -- he' blocking the
Privacy Commissioner of Canada from appearing as a witness at the
committee studying the bill."
Professors Craig Forcese and Kent Roach offer a detailed examination of
the privacy implications of the massive expansion of government sharing
of information. In recent weeks, all privacy commissioners from across
the country have spoken out. For example, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Daniel Therrien, appointed by the government less than a year ago and
described as an expert by Prime Minister Harper, rightly slams the bill:
the scale of information sharing being proposed is unprecedented,
the scope of the new powers conferred by the Act is excessive,
particularly as these powers affect ordinary Canadians, and the
safeguards protecting against unreasonable loss of privacy are seriously
deficient. While the potential to know virtually everything about
everyone may well identify some new threats, the loss of privacy is
clearly excessive. All Canadians would be caught in this web.
The end result?
As a result of SCISA, 17 government institutions involved in
national security would have virtually limitless powers to monitor and,
with the assistance of Big Data analytics, to profile ordinary
Canadians, with a view to identifying security threats among them. In a
country governed by the rule of law, it should not be left for national
security agencies to determine the limits of their powers. Generally,
the law should prescribe clear and reasonable standards for the sharing,
collection, use and retention of personal information, and compliance
with these standards should be subject to independent and effective
review mechanisms, including the courts.
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