Canada Proposes Surveillance State on Web

Michael Geist - Canada's Big Brother Plan to Reshape the Internet

Canada is moving towards allowing law enforcement to tap Internet connections of private citizens without ANY judicial review or oversight. Wow - since when does Canada take public policy advice from China? And when is the U.S. going to follow suit?

"Law enforcement authorities would also have access to a new “preservation order” that could be used to compel ISPs to preserve Internet usage information for up to three months, forcing ISPs to store far more data than is currently the case.

Among the most troubling aspects of the lawful access proposals are a series of new powers that are not accompanied by any judicial oversight. Law enforcement authorities, including the police, CSIS agents, and even Competition Bureau authorities, will have the right to obtain ISP subscriber information simply upon request without a warrant. In fact, the proposals even envision ISPs responding to such requests in certain situations within 30 minutes based solely on a phone call."