Eliminate immunity for telecoms in C-13: privacy commish

OTTAWA — Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told a House of Commons committee on Tuesday that he was troubled by provisions in the government’s cyberbullying legislation that give immunity to telecommunications companies who provide information voluntarily to authorities. Therrien, who was confirmed as privacy commissioner last week, said he was concerned the “broad language” in the bill could lead to more voluntary disclosures and formal requests. “This is of particular concern with private sector companies that are otherwise prohibited from disclosing personal information without consent,” he told the justice committee, which is reviewing the legislation. “In essence, this could amount to permissive access without court approval and oversight,” Therrien added. “We believe that Canadians expect that their service providers will keep their information confidential and that personal information will not be shared with government authorities without either their express consent, clear lawful authority or a warrant.” The immunity provision should be removed or changed, he said. “To broaden the immunity clause sends a strong signal to telecommunications companies to enhance the kind of involuntary disclosure that is currently occurring, and that, to us, has serious privacy implications,” he said. While currently, similar provisions currently exist, the cyberbullying bill, Bill C-13, would remove “the requirement that a criminal offence or a breach of another federal law be under investigation,” Therrien noted in a written submission to the committee. “As a result, the new provision allows public and peace officers complete discretion to request that organizations voluntarily provide any information (there are no limits on the types of data that may be obtained in this way) and in any circumstances (there are no longer any limits) without risk of criminal or civil liability for the organization in question,” he wrote. In response to a question during his appearance about which other entities committee members should hear from that have not already testified during the committee’s review of C-13, Therrien said telecommunications companies should appear. “I think we should have law enforcement agencies explain, and telecommunications companies explain, the practical import of what is before you,” he said. In response to a question about whether it was telecommunications companies who asked for the immunity provision to be included in C-13, Therrien referred the question to Patricia Kosseim, a lawyer with the Privacy Commissioner’s Office. “I don’t think we have any personal knowledge of their position or who actually requested that the immunity clause be amended in this way,” Kosseim said. The Wire Report reported in November that C-13 resurrects many of the lawful-access provisions previously included in the so-called Internet surveillance bill, Bill C-30, though it does not include two aspects that would have been the most costly for telecommunications companies. During his appearance Tuesday, Therrien repeated both his call to split the legislation into two parts and analyze the privacy implications of the bill through an independent review, as well as his previous statement that telecom companies should disclose statistics about the number of requests for information they receive. He also said two other provisions in the bill merit more analysis: the legal thresholds necessary for the use of the new powers and procedures and the range of agencies, departments and officials who can use the new powers. “The bulk of the new powers may be used where investigators have a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, not a reasonable belief,” he said in his written submission, noting that the reasonable suspicion standard is “a materially lower and less privacy protective standard for investigators to meet than the traditional, default standard of 'reasonable and probable grounds' that must exist before an individual’s privacy may be intruded upon.” Therrien added in the submission that some of the individuals who will be able to access the investigative tools in the bill include “mayors, wardens, reeves, sheriffs, certain airline pilots, customs officers, fisheries officers” who do not have the same oversight and reporting requirement as agencies like RCMP and CSIS. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Peter Henderson at phenderson@thewirereport.ca

Eliminate immunity for telecoms in C-13: privacy commish

News | June 10, 2014

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Eliminate immunity for telecoms in C-13: privacy commish

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