Vic Toews Apparently Not A Fan Of Others Seeing His Personal Data

from the is-he-for-child-porn? dept

Tue, Feb 21st 2012 3:54am — Mike Masnick

You may recall that Canadian Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews announced Canada's "lawful access" (read: government monitoring of the internet) bill by saying that if you weren't in favor of the bill, you supported child porn. Over the weekend, he also seemed to admit that he didn't even understand the bill he was supporting.

That was pretty ridiculous, and a Twitter meme was developed in which lots of people shared info with Toews about things that were going on in their lives. Of course, it was only a matter of time until someone did the opposite... and started revealing info about Toews. Indeed, late last week, a Twitter account calling itself Vikileaks showed up on the scene... leaking info about things like Toews' divorce. After that created a lot of press attention and controversy, the anonymous person behind the account shut it down. However, Brendan noted that for a while it appeared to be blocked in Canada, but not elsewhere. He provided a screenshot from Canada where it says no such account exists, as well as one via a proxy which shows the account. If the user deleted the account, it's possible that it was a caching issue...

Either way, it appears that Toews is not at all happy that his own personal info is being shared. There were some claims that the account holder was accessing the account from within the Canadian House of Commons (something the user denied), leading Toews to demand an investigation into who was behind the account. Of course, as the report notes, it may be difficult to impossible to get any useful info, since all House of Commons traffic shows up as coming from one of just four IPs, so zeroing in on the particular user may not be possible.

But, no matter, Toews wants an investigation (at taxpayer expense). And who gets to investigate those who abuse Toews' lawful access proposal to access private info of citizens? Perhaps, rather than chasing down a ghost, Toews would be better served to think a little more seriously about the complaints people have raised about government over-surveillance.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: canada, internet, lawful access, spying, surveillance, vic toews

59 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

lolzzzz, 21 Feb 2012 @ 3:57am

JUST so you know
ALL htat was released was on public record , JUST not all nice n neat in one place.
In other words GOT YA...what ya going to investigate nothing illegal was done.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
lolzzzz, 21 Feb 2012 @ 3:58am

OH and
Sorry for double post but he degraded his reputation by calling every Canadian that likes privacy names in the house of commons.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:05am

same old story. politicians that have no understanding AT ALL concerning the Bills they are introducing, have no clue AT ALL about the implications of the Bills they are introducing, no clue AT ALL about how the Internet works, are TOO FUCKING OLD to be telling people what they can and cant do, where they can or cant do it, yet insist there is nothing wrong with the Bills they are introducing, even though they are gonna allow infringement of privacy, freedom and human rights. that is, until exactly what their Bill will do comes back and bites them well and truly in the arse! funny how they think it's perfectly ok for everyone's information to be broadcast and available to whoever wants it (the governments), as long as it isn't their information!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TheLaughingMan, 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:06am

Who Watches The Watchmen?
Stephen Harper, John Baird, Rob Nicholson and Vic Toews should be tarred and feathered, then banished from Canada!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Fat American, 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:14am

What's going on up there?
Come on guys, get it together up north. I need somewhere sane to flee to if things go off the rails completely in the US.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Paul Renault (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:22am

Rick Mercer's Rant covers this tonight
He address Toews proposed legislattion. One line from a preview (I'm quoting from memory) is "almost all people, if they knew they were going to die in five minutes ... would take a minute or two and go to their computer and erase the hard drive..".. Heh.

In the interim, here's an applicable rant about the Harper government:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWwEwUz45_I
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:49am

And yet...this isn't enough.
Someone needs to get into his personal computer(s), his cell phone, etc., and publish EVERYTHING. He's publicly volunteered to be an example, so why not take him up on the offer?

He won't learn the lesson, of course, he's far too stupid. But perhaps others will benefit from observing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yogi, 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:53am

Waiting...
I can't wait for these old farts to finally die out so we can just go on with our new digital lives without having to worry all the time about these pompous know-nothings messing with stuff they don't know.
It's like having a baby wandering around in a nuclear reactor - you're either crazy or you're saying: "what the hell is a baby doing in there" and you're rushing to get him out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 4:59am

Moose time to rebel.
It is now or never :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bhargav.Y, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:15am

Honorable ???
Since when was accusing people of being pro-child porn and ignoring all their arguments "Honorable Debate"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:23am

His objection is a political matter within the House of Commons, and he has every right to be upset that someone apparently associated with the House in some capacity is playing games to try and score political points.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fairusefriendly (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:23am

so he objects to a consequence of proposed bill
If this bill goes forward every isp will have a database of data, that could be hacked and release to the public.

The embarrassment he is currently objecting to is the same problem millions of Canadians will face from this bill.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The eejit (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:28am

Re: Who Watches The Watchmen?
Who would want them?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The eejit (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:31am

Re: Honorable ???
Since Fox News was created.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The eejit (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:32am

Re:
He was trying to use MORAL OUTRAGE to score cheap political points. Turnabout is fair play.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yogi, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:33am

Waiting...
I can't wait for these old farts to finally die out so we can just go on with our new digital lives without having to worry all the time about these pompous know-nothings messing with stuff they don't know.
It's like having a baby wandering around in a nuclear reactor - you're either crazy or you're saying: "what the hell is a baby doing in there" and you're rushing to get him out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Don't Toews Me Bro, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:34am

it seems that mr. toews is unwilling to impose upon himself that which he is quick to impose upon others.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:36am

Re: Re:
Which is common in parlimentary debate. Personal matters is quite a different story.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:40am

"Increased surveillance is fine, as long as it's not increased surveillance of me."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fogbugzd (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:41am

Re:
>>politicians that have no understanding AT ALL concerning the Bills they are introducing, have no clue AT ALL about the implications of the Bills they are introducing, no clue AT ALL about how the Internet works, are TOO FUCKING OLD to be telling people what they can and cant do,

Politicians don't need to know. The lobbyists tell them everything they need to know. If anonymous wants to upset someone who really matters, they should hack the lobbyist who wrote the bill.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DogBreath, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:47am

Re: Re: Re:
If he has nothing to hide and he hasn't done anything wrong, he shouldn't be afraid... unless he has something to hide.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:56am

Re: Who Watches The Watchmen?
Don't you mean they should be set adrift on an ice floe?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Loki, 21 Feb 2012 @ 6:28am

If the people creating these bad legislations and bad business models don't want them used against them, perhaps they should stop proposing them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 6:42am

Umm...If I read that right, he's fine with doing it in public. So, I'm not exactly sure of this (this being Canadian politics), but couldn't some other politician get up and filibuster with this same personal information that was publicly available? In the house of commons or whatever meeting they have next?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Groove Tiger (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 6:49am

Re: Re: Who Watches The Watchmen?
I can imagine their reactions...

"You'll regret this day, friend!"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Devil's Coachman (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 7:06am

Re: Re: Re: Who Watches The Watchmen?
They would soon be forced to realize the sheer ludicrousness of that remark, once the hypothermia set in.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Beech, 21 Feb 2012 @ 7:09am

Poetic justice, while not always savory, is nonetheless usually satisfying
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 7:26am

canadian gov eh
Canada-eh... the "53 state wannabee" of the US run by america's ho's... our canadian politicians love to be in bed with the US (any position anytime u big US boys) but when the tables are turned on the politicians they sure have a high pitch scream.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pickle Monger (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 7:34am

I call BS
Perhaps, rather than chasing down a ghost, Toews would be better served to think a little more seriously about the complaints people have raised about government over-surveillance.

What I would rather have is a clear explanation of why the government doesn not want to keep a registry of guns (Conservative-dominated parliament voted to discontinue it last week) but want to keeps a detailed info on internet users. Regardless of how people feel about the gun registry, it would be the height of intellectual dishonesty to assert that internet user history is more dangerous than guns.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
LMG, 21 Feb 2012 @ 7:53am

"However, Brendan noted that for a while it appeared to be blocked in Canada, but not elsewhere. He provided a screenshot from Canada where it says no such account exists, as well as one via a proxy which shows the account. If the user deleted the account, it's possible that it was a caching issue..."

Had similar issue, but it wasn't just vikileaks, it was about 80% of the profiles I tried to visit for a brief period. I think it was just twitter acting up like it usually does as sometimes vikileaks showed and sometimes it didn't.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Josh (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 8:16am

Umm...
"This attempt to smear my name using taxpayer-funded resources"

Is he implying that Twitter is funded by the Canadian taxpayers?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 8:18am

Re: Re: Re:
How are public documents a personal issue?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 8:45am

Re: Re: Re: Who Watches The Watchmen?
To which someone will respond, "I'm not your friend, buddy!"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Toews Lover, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:01am

What a douchebag politician
This douchebag Toews should be exposed for being a fraud upon the Canadian voters. First, he doesn't even understand the legislation he's supporting (duh) and then his linking people who don't support the bill to being child porn lovers, well Vic the payback for you was sweet. Maybe next time you get some legislation, you actually read it and understand it. This is what you and your other child porn loving buddies in Parliament should do. Douchebag, just resign now.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The eejit (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:16am

Re: Re: Re:
He represents THE PUBLIC. He should be scrutinized by the public to ensure that he is actually able to do the damn job.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:17am

Re: I call BS
FYI, the gun registry was for long barrel weapons only. So only hunting rifles.
When was the last time you saw a 7-11 knocked over by two thugs wielding hunting rifles?
Not to mention the billions of dollars wasted making sure the farmers and hunters weren't the criminal types.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:17am

Re: What's going on up there?
Then you may want to consider Mexico. Or better yet, stand up and fight back! :{
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Joe, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:20am

Re:
' and he has every right to be upset that someone apparently associated with the House in some capacity is playing games to try and score political points.'

A politician has every right to be upset someone is playing political games..... That guy is going to have pretty high blood pressure...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Joe, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:23am

This is just a strategy play
and a good one at that. He's turning the conversation away from the bill and making accusations that one of the opposition parties is responsible forcing them on the defensive. Shifting the narrative off of the legislation allows them to get it through with the least amount of trouble.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Joe, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:23am

This is just a strategy play
and a good one at that. He's turning the conversation away from the bill and making accusations that one of the opposition parties is responsible forcing them on the defensive. Shifting the narrative off of the legislation allows them to get it through with the least amount of trouble.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Joe, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:28am

apologies for the double post. double clicked the submit button...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:30am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Because in legislative proceedings courtesy and decorum should rule the day (yes, even if your opponent is such an idiot that you want to call him/her out).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:43am

Guess who else deserves this?
Lamar Smith. HR 1981.

That is all.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 9:46am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Opponent? Oh right, we actually don't know who the leak was. Hey, it could've have been his "side" for all we know, makes for a good narrative, the victim angle.

I think we can safely say that the political realm in the 21st century will be decidedly different than, oh wait, it's always been this way.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
whatever (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 10:39am

Just something to add
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyOQFYeBIho
[ link to this | view in thread ]
radarmonkey (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 10:48am

Who sent it?
Of course, as the report notes, it may be difficult to impossible to get any useful info, since all House of Commons traffic shows up as coming from one of just four IPs, so zeroing in on the particular user may not be possible.
But ... but ... but ... all the Big Content says you can positively identify the *PERSON* by an IP address! I'm so confused.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 11:01am

Hey Mike your site seems to be blocked in Canada?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 11:43am

So.. what's a new career for someone that's been in IT for 20 years? Maybe I could go collect garbage...

Thank you Toews for killing more jobs.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nick Fillmore, 21 Feb 2012 @ 11:48am

Harper is the bad one . . . .
Poor old, stupid Vic Toews got his toes caught in this one! He should resign, but incompetent or lying Conservative cabinet ministers never seem to resign or fall on their sword -- these guys should live in Japan! They might be more hones.

In reality it is Stephen Harper who is the bad guy in all of this. he dislikes and mistrusts ordinary liberal-minded Canadians so much, he wants us spied upon. He has some very evil ideas:
http://nickfillmore.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-stephen-harper-displaying-fascist.html
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Nick Fillmore, 21 Feb 2012 @ 11:48am

Harper is the bad one . . . .
Poor old, stupid Vic Toews got his toes caught in this one! He should resign, but incompetent or lying Conservative cabinet ministers never seem to resign or fall on their sword -- these guys should live in Japan! They might be more hones.

In reality it is Stephen Harper who is the bad guy in all of this. he dislikes and mistrusts ordinary liberal-minded Canadians so much, he wants us spied upon. He has some very evil ideas:
http://nickfillmore.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-stephen-harper-displaying-fascist.html
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 12:46pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Who Watches The Watchmen?
I'm not you're buddy, guy!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Kage, 21 Feb 2012 @ 2:34pm

They love their rights.
Isn't it funny how those who wish to deny the average citizen of their basic rights to privacy, feel that on the other hand, their rights are somehow more valid and important.

We're all equal, they're just more equal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Ed Allen, 21 Feb 2012 @ 2:47pm

Re: Guess who else deserves this?
I second that. He needs an awakening to what draconian laws do to people's peace of mind and take away freedoms like privacy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 3:05pm

We still haven't heard
Just how old was the babysitter when Vic first "interacted" with her?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That Anonymous Coward (profile), 21 Feb 2012 @ 3:05pm

And I'll just leave this here....

Anonymous video threatens Canada's domestic spying minister with embarrassing disclosures

http://boingboing.net/2012/02/21/144816.html

But this point it really is a shame no one expects them... they warned you.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Feb 2012 @ 5:23pm

Re: JUST so you know
what ya going to investigate nothing illegal was done

And yet he seemed to have no trouble determining the IP address associated with the account�something which would allegedly be difficult under current law if the account had just been used for child pornography.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 22 Feb 2012 @ 3:00am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yeah, they should. So why is it that John Steele is allowed to accuse the EFF of being quasi-anarchist?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Overcast (profile), 22 Feb 2012 @ 7:42am

What a snake of a hypocrite.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
btr1701 (profile), 23 Feb 2012 @ 11:23am

Re: Re: Re:
> Which is common in parlimentary debate.
> Personal matters is quite a different story.

Bottom line, if he wants to pass a law which would make all my personal data open to scrutiny, then he has a helluva set of stones objecting to his own data being treated the same way.
[ link to this | view in thread ]