Spy bill allows government security agency to collect ‘publicly available’ info on Canadians

C-59 allows Communications Security Establishment’s electronic spies to acquire “publicly available” info on Canadians, but officials claim the power is limited.

Thestar.com
June 21, 2017
By Alex Boutilier

The Liberals’ new national security legislation would confirm the Communications Security Establishment’s power to collect “publicly available” information about Canadians.

New language in Bill C-59 outlines CSE’s ability to obtain and analyze any information already in the public realm, including aggregate information that relates to Canadians.

The spy agency is strictly prohibited from targeting Canadians with its sophisticated techniques and tools. But a Department of Justice analysis of C-59, released Monday, suggests that “general prohibition” does not prevent CSE from using what’s freely available online or purchased from data companies.

“Considering the information about individuals that can be aggregated, and the things that can be learned from such aggregations using modern technologies and then offered for sale by data-brokers, CSE’s acquisition and use of such information ... has the potential to affect privacy interests protected by section 8 of the Charter,” the analysis read.

Senior CSE officials, who have been briefing the media about C-59 on the condition they not be named, told the Star Tuesday the powers are not new. CSE believes they’ able to collect and analyze publicly available information for some time, and officials do not believe the practice violated the laws.

The officials gave the example of accessing a database of location information to correspond with internet protocol (IP) addresses. Having such “publicly available” information would allow CSE to determine where a particular IP address was located - and to ensure they weren’t targeting an Internet user in Canada.

Christopher Parsons, a researcher at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, worries information lawfully collected by CSE may be exploited by other federal law enforcement agencies.

CSE may collect information for one reason, Parsons said, but that information could be sought by CSIS or the RCMP for another: to help build a case against suspects, for instance.

“You’re presumed innocent until proven guilty, so the government is not permitted to listen in and collect your communications or aspects of your communications without a warrant,” Parsons said in an interview Wednesday.

“This is fundamentally different ... If CSE is (collecting information) in the course of their activities that happens to exist, then there is the prospect a national security agency or the police (could) gain access to it.”

“It creates the possibility of lots and lots of semi-functional wiretaps that could be used in the future against the persons who are accused.”

Parsons added Canadians may never find out about such an abuse of the system, unless the law enforcement agency admits they obtained the information through CSE in a court case.

CSE would not need the sign-off from Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan to collect publicly available information, and the newly-created role of Intelligence Commissioner would not review the agency’s collection of that information.

But officials pointed out that any information collected and used under C-59’s provisions can be reviewed by the National Security Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA), a new “super” watchdog charged with keeping tabs on the Canadian intelligence community’s activities.

The officials said CSE would not be able to use the “publicly available” provision to collect information such as unprotected social media posts on Twitter or Facebook. That would violate CSE’s restriction from targeting Canadians, they said, and would be illegal both under the current law and C-59.

The agency could assist other federal law enforcement, such as CSIS or the RCMP, to collect information about Canadians, but only if those law enforcement agencies get a warrant from a federal court.

The Department of Justice analysis suggested the privacy implications of CSE accessing public information would be minimal, even if it relates to Canadians.

“(Publicly) available information could only be acquired and used for compelling purposes in support of CSE’s mandate,” the department wrote. “Any such information acquired would be subject to appropriate measures to protect privacy.”

But the CSE officials conceded that even innocuous information, collected into the kind of massive databases that modern spy agencies deal with, could reveal highly sensitive details.