Canadians to Spy Agencies: Get a Warrant!
Ranked first among privacy priorities, the people of Canada have spoken. Second in a series.
Do our digital homes deserve the same right to privacy as our brick-and-mortar homes?
This is one of the questions Canadians are asking after CBC News revealed that a government spy agency — the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) — targeted popular mobile browsers and apps, leaving millions at risk of having their private data hacked.
This is the latest in a long series of revelations about how the government has been spying on our private online activities on a massive scale — without ever going to a judge to ask for a warrant.
Earlier this week, we launched a crowdsourced pro-privacy action plan, to tackle these and other concerns. The early reception has been positive, with the federal privacy commissioner stating that he “shared many of the views expressed by participants in this project.”
As part of our crowdsourcing process, we presented participants with a range of privacy priorities, which we asked them to rank in order of preference. Top of Canadians’ list was “require a warrant for government to spy on personal information,” which barely edged out “end blanket surveillance” for the number one spot.
Tackling Canada’s privacy deficit starts with getting a warrant, finds new OpenMedia report.
We drilled down further by asking in what circumstances should the government be allowed to access Canadians’ personal information. Again we presented a range of options, and this time the result was overwhelming:
Over 93 per cent of participants said a warrant granted by a judge is a must when it comes to accessing your personal information. Independent studies, such as this one by the privacy commissioner and this one by Forum Research, reinforce these findings.
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