Canadian Supreme Court Says Government Needs To Get A Warrant To Get Your Internet Info
from the big-win-for-privacy dept
While we're still struggling with this stuff down here in the US, the Canadian Supreme Court made a huge decision earlier today, saying that the government must get a warrant to demand your information from an internet provider. In other words, your information is private, even if it's held by an internet company. The full ruling in this case, R. v. Spencer is worth reading, but the key finding is that there is an expectation of privacy in this information, and thus, searching it requires a warrant:In my view, in the totality of the circumstances of this case, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in the subscriber information. The disclosure of this information will often amount to the identification of a user with intimate or sensitive activities being carried out online, usually on the understanding that these activities would be anonymous. A request by a police officer that an ISP voluntarily disclose such information amounts to a search.As Michael Geist points out, not only does this mean ISPs now need to change their procedures, but also (importantly) it should destroy the rationale for two new attempted bills concerning "legal access" (i.e., expanding the government's ability to get information via internet service providers without a warrant). This kind of ruling should fit equally at home with the 4th Amendment here in the US, but the issue still really hasn't been tested at the Supreme Court. Congrats up north, though, for actually recognizing the value of a warrant and just a bit of oversight on government surveillance.
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Filed Under: canada, expectation of privacy, internet info, privacy, supreme court, third party doctrine, warrants
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For a multitude of reasons.
Globally, the parliamentary democracy system has been shown to form far more stable governments than American-style republics.
In Canada, when a corporation gives a large sum of money to a politician in exchange for passing certain laws, it is considered "bribery", rather than "lobbying".
Having 3 major parties (Liberals, Conservatives, and New Democrats) that span the political spectrum instead of just one party (Republicrats) also helps.
In the rest of the developed world, religion isn't nearly as big of a problem as it is in the United States. We prefer to evaluate reasons and examine evidence rather than blindly having faith that things will 'just work'.
Our education system focuses on education, rather than teaching students to pass tests.
And most of all, because our countries are utterly insignificant compared to the United States, we have to pay very close attention to what you guys are doing. When we see America failing so spectacularly, it provides us with a very clear example of what not to do, and it is discussed immensely, and public concerns can become national issues. How much attention does the United States pay to some tiny place that no one has every heard of when things go wrong there?
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you must disabuse yourself of the idea that this is really a small-dee democracy, the 'leaders' and such are really trying hard to make it work for us 99%, etc, etc, etc...
in other words, EVERYTHING you 'know' about America is a lie... EVERYTHING is bullshit propaganda intended to keep the rabble in line...
the purpose of this system, this society is NOT to provide the greatest good for the greatest number, the purpose -as set up or hijacked by our 'superiors'- is to funnel ALL the money, ALL the power, ALL the control to the 1%...
all the while attempting to hide the naked power mongering behind a thin veneer of democracy-looking institutions and processes...
bread tastes good, and circuses are fun...
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I couldn't believe it when I logged in to the news this morning
What's even worse about the bills that were proposed, is that not only would it allow law enforcement to get any info it wanted at any time, with no court involvement, but it would also shield ISPs from any and all lawsuits - be it civil or C.A - AND give private companies the same unrestricted access, as long as they stated that it was for security/safety reasons. No proof required, of course.
Today's decision effectively killed all of that, and I couldn't be happier. Especially because, just a few days ago, the gov't lied through its teeth by stating all those proposed changes were completely constitutional, while voting down all amendments that actually tried to mitigate the damage and restore some semblance of privacy, and calling us paranoid lunatics. HA! Can't wait till 2015 when we kick them out of office.
Yesterday, it was Wynn b****-slapping Haduk in Ontario's election, next year it will be Trudeau doing the same to Harper.
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Re: I couldn't believe it when I logged in to the news this morning
Ditto! A lot of federal employees are still steamed at them for all of the crap they've pulled, so it should be totally doable. Hopefully we an get some of the non-voters to realize their vote isn't as pointless as they think it is too. :)
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Especially because Justin is more appealing to the layman that Tom is, and he seems to be more to the left than typical Lib candidates - though this could be another Obama-type smokescreen - and so he is more likely to cannibalize NDP's votes, since people don't want another Con gov't and also don't think NDP can win.
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A win for constitutional rights, I hope.
Canadian courts have actually been doing a pretty good job of protecting the constitutional rights of the public for a while now, something the government should be doing but isn't. They're called "representatives" for a reason, but they seem to have conveniently forgotten that. They're much more keen to represent their own interests, all while ignoring the public who've been screaming at the top of their lungs about the problems these proposed laws would cause and their unconstitutionality. It has been very exasperating for us to say the least.
It's time for the Canadian people to wake up and vote for real change for once. Bouncing from Liberal to Conservative to NDP is pointless when the only real difference between them is their name. I'm voting Pirate Party next time and so are a lot of other people around here. Countless federal employees haven't forgotten what the Conservatives did when they got their majority for example. That plus their other deeds, like these terrible laws they're trying to pass, have helped immensely in my quest to bring others over to our side, the side of reason.
I have to admit it's been slow going, but at least some Canadians are finally starting to take notice of what their government is up to and they definitely aren't liking what they see at all. Fingers crossed come next election that Harper gets the boot and we finally get some real honest to God change for once. Spread the word and open some eyes, folks!
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At least Canadians understands the definition of voluntary. That's more than can be said about the US Gov, and it's misinterpretation of voluntary under the Section 215 third party doctrine.
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This is just a temporary setback for them.
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Get a search warrant
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Re: Get a search warrant
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There is also the not withstanding clause, which can actually allow it to be over-ridden for a period of time.
My guess is that there will be laws passed to make ISP information no more protected than payphone records.
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...Unlike the US...
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So if a movie/record or any company demands the info from an ISP they must first have a warrant.
The judges clearly stated Canadians have the RIGHT to be anonymous when they choose.
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