With the world following every detail about Edward Snowden and his revelations about the NSA, do Canadians need to be worried about our version of the NSA?
Canada’s version of the NSA is the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), which was established in 1946 and is now under the control of the Department of National Defense. The CSEC’s three-part mandate is ‘to acquire and use information from the global information infrastructure for the purpose of providing foreign intelligence’, ‘to provide advice, guidance and services to help ensure the protection of electronic information and of information infrastructures of importance to the Government of Canada’ and ‘to provide technical and operational assistance to federal law enforcement and security agencies in the performance of their lawful duties.’ The CSEC has a budget around $422 million and a staff of about 2000 people. ‘The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) Commissioner provides independent review of CSEC’s activities to ensure compliance with the law and the protection of privacy of Canadians.‘
The CSEC asserts that it does not spy on Canadians. The CSEC released a statement , in reference to the Annual Report submitted to the Canadian Parliament by the CSE Commissioner, defending itself from current media scrutiny by pointing out that the Commissioner found no evidence that the CSEC acted outside the law or its mandate.
So, what has been the media scrutiny?
A CBC article focuses on the collection and analysis of ‘metadata’ by the CSEC. Metadata is, loosely, data of data. So, since the CSEC is not technically breaking the law by not actually looking at the specifics of the data, could it be breaking the spirit of the law as metadata can reveal a substantial amount of useful information?
The Globe and Mail, who broke the story on the CSEC, further criticizes the use of ‘metadata’ and reveals that Defence Minister, Peter MacKay, approved the reinstatement of surveillance of global telephone and internet data in 2011
The National Post points out that the Annual Report from the CSE Commissioner does not exonerate the CSEC from illegal activities because the report indicated that some illegal acts by the CSEC ‘may’ have been perpetrated.
Global News reports that the CSEC was the genesis behind the ability for national security agencies to enter a back door into encrypted information. In an accompanying interview, Dr. Michael Geist, law professor at the University of Ottawa, is convinced the CSEC is an ‘active participant and partner’ with other national security agencies, like the NSA.
So, should we be concerned?
I definitely think we should. There are too many questions around what data is actually being collected, who is collecting it, and for what purpose? These questions need to be clarified by the Canadian Government in a transparent and thorough manner, so we, the Canadian people, can feel confident that the spirit of the law is being adhered to and that the rights of individuals are being protected.
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