Canadian Lawful Access Legislation Introduced in Parliament

On June 18, 2009, before Parliament adjourned for the summer recess, the federal Government introduced Bills C-46 and C-47, which would widen police investigative powers by allowing access to all forms of private electronic communications and data, both directly from private persons and indirectly through Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The stated goal is to give law enforcement enhanced means to fight online crime and other crimes where new technologies are used, including: fraud, mischief, child pornography, and sexual offences against children. Bill C-46, the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act, would allow police, in circumstances where obtaining a warrant is not feasible, to compel persons to produce data from the transmissions of communications, the location of those transactions, and the identities of the individuals involved, and to preserve electronic data as evidence. Police could also secure a warrant to obtain tracking data from devices (including mobile phones) to assess the location of a vehicle or a person. Bill C-47, the Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement in the 21st Century Act, requires ISPs to have the capability of intercepting communications, identifying the subscriber to the service, and establishing the location of the equipment used in the transmission of those communications. ISPs would be required to provide this information to the authorities upon request. Critics have asserted that the legislation provides only minimal additional benefit to public safety, at the expense of a significant erosion of privacy rights. The debate on the Bills leading to Second Reading (approval in principle) is expected to take place when Parliament reconvenes in the autumn, 2009. For a link to the relevant article in The Globe and Mail, see: http://tinyurl.com/nb3oqj Summary by: Darren Hall