Coalition calls for separate lawful access bills

A coalition of several public interest groups is calling on the Harper government to table “lawful access” technical surveillance legislation separately from omnibus crime legislation and to give the bill “an appropriate hearing.” In the last Parliament, the Conservative government introduced bills C-50, C-51 and C-52, collectively known as lawful access legislation. The bills would force Internet service providers (ISPs) to disclose customer information to law enforcement authorities without a court-ordered warrant. Names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Internet protocol addresses, and device identification numbers could be requested by authorities. The Conservative government says the bills will be a top priority in Parliament and will be rolled into omnibus crime legislation. Federal privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart and provincial privacy commissioners have also expressed concern about the legislation. Now a coalition including a host of experts as well as groups OpenMedia.ca, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, have issued a letter about the legislation to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The coalition says it is concerned about a government pledge to “introduce and pass within 100 days” an omnibus crime bill with lawful access included. “We are particularly concerned that three of those bills will have serious negative implications for the privacy rights of Canadians, and that these aspects will not receive the scrutiny they deserve if rolled into an omnibus bill,” the letter says, dated Aug. 9. “Given the profound concerns raised by Canada’s Privacy Commissioners which have yet to be answered, we ask you to at least give these pieces of legislation an appropriate hearing. That cannot happen if they are rolled into an omnibus crime bill with a large number of unrelated and also contentious pieces of legislation.”

Coalition calls for separate lawful access bills

Briefs | 08/10/2011 7:33 pm EDT

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