Wiretapping in the Cyber Age: The Canadian Government Seeks Input

Interception of communications and search and seizure of information have new implications since wireline networks are no longer the principal means of communication. Much of Canada's legislation on lawful interception did not foresee the Internet or wireless communication, yet the country has taken on treaty obligations that will require sophisticated action in order to combat global crime. In preparing to update and enact new legislation, a paper entitled Lawful Access Consultation Document was published in 2002.   A wide range of stakeholders responded to the Consultation Document and the resulting compilation has now been released.   Entitled Summary of Submissions to the Lawful Access Consultation, the summary outlines key submissions from industry, civil society groups, law enforcement agencies, privacy and information commissioners and the general public.   This includes two civil society groups based in the US which offered views based on their experience with similar legislation passed by the US Congress in recent years. The next step in the process is stated in these somewhat opaque terms:

"The Government of Canada is currently studying the feedback it obtained to determine how best to proceed in developing the lawful access legislative proposals."

With no date announced for the introduction of legislation, it would appear to be timely for interested parties to make further submissions or to comment on submissions that have already been filed. For the text of the Department of Justice press release dated August 6, 2003, visit: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/nr/2003/doc_30958.html. For other materials, including the full text of the Summary, a backgrounder, FAQs and the original Consultation Document dated August 2002, visit: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/cons/la_al/index.html. Summary by:   Michael Erdle