Government moving to access personal info, sparking privacy fears

Public

FYI, here is a CBC news item from September 12, 2007.

Government moving to access personal info, sparking privacy fears

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/09/12/tech-privacy.html

Some readers may recall this is not a new Government initiative and has been previously referred to as "lawful access".

Essentially, the initiative stems from the European Conference on cybercrime a number of years ago wherein government officials from G8 countries negotiated an agreement beyond the scope of the laws of their countries.

Since that time the Government of Canada has been preparing to align itself with that agreement through changes to the laws of the land permitting access to personal information without a warrant. There has been no evidence to date that law enforcement agencies have been unable to obtain information needed with a warrant as currently required.

This will just give police unlimited scope to obtain information without the checks and balances afforded by the courts. Individual rights are significantly threatened by these provisions.