OTTAWA — The Harper government’s new cyberbullying legislation includes little-noticed provisions that would allow police to remotely gain entry to computers and track cellphone users’ movements, privacy experts warn. Jesse Kline: A bigger surveillance state won’t stop ‘cyberbullying’ As a result of the revelations of the vast foreign and domestic surveillance programs run by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Congress is at least trying to rein in some of the NSA’s powers. Unfortunately, despite all we know about the Canadian government’s involvement in the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, this country is moving in the opposite direction by making it easier for government officials to gather information about Canadians’ online activities. Bill C-13, colloquially known as the cyberbullying bill, is currently being studied by a parliamentary committee. The term “cyberbullying,” however, is a bit of a misnomer. In a stunning display of political opportunism, the government has trotted out parents whose children have tragically taken their own lives after being bullied online. But nowhere in the bill do the words “cyber” or “bully” actually appear. Continue reading… Bill C-13, being studied by the House of Commons justice committee this week, is described by the Conservatives as cyberbullying legislation, but will dramatically expand the reach of police, giving them “the power to remotely hack into computers, mobile devices, or cars in order to track location or record metadata,” according to the director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Cara Zwibel told Members of Parliament that the changes were “inappropriate.” Experts say police would be able to install viruses, or malware, into the electronics of anyone suspected of a crime, after gaining judicial approval. The bill expands the definition for “tracking device” and adds the concept of a “transmission data recorder” into the Criminal Code. The Department of Justice wouldn’t comment on the changes, saying only that “the question of whether one type of software or another could be used is more of an operational consideration.” At present, if police want a suspect’s data, they need to either obtain a warrant for their cellphone or laptop, or they need to go to the users’ internet or cellphone provider. If they want to track a suspect, they need to get a warrant and attach a GPS device to the suspect’s car or person. The changes in C-13 allow police to now use a ‘‘computer program’’ to do either of those things. ‘‘‘Computer program’ means computer data representing instructions or statements that, when executed in a computer system, causes the computer system to perform a function,” the bill reads. That definition opens the door to a wide array of schemes, says Christopher Parsons, postdoctoral fellow at the Citizen Lab in the Munk School of Global Affairs. news.nationalpost/2014/06/10/proposed-cyberbullying-law-would-let-police-remotely-hack-into-computers-mobile-devices-or-cars/
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 09:23:32 +0000
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