More coverage of our letters to Canadian telecommunications service providers concerning how, when, under what conditions, and how often they disclose information to government agencies.
Source: Reveal extent of government data surveillance, campaign asks telecom companies
Prominent privacy and digital-security researchers send open letter to Bell, Rogers, Telus, Shaw and a dozen other companies
Nice coverage by the Globe and Mail
Source: Telecom firms being asked what data they are giving to police, intelligence agencies
A particularly handy guide, if you have privacy concerns and want them resolved by a privacy commissioner/data protection office.
Today, Canadian scholars and civil liberties organizations have asked Canada’s telecommunications companies to explain how they disclose information to government authorities.
A project that’s been in the works, now, for 1.5 years is finally really starting! Exciting times!
Source: Towards Transparency in Canadian Telecommunications – The Citizen Lab
I’m not in corporate PR, but when it turns out your company (i.e. BlackBerry) holds the patent on a known-NSA-backdoored encryption standard I’m not sure shutting up and avoiding the press is the best of ideas. Especially if your product (*cough* BlackBerry *cough*) is predicated on strong security against all attackers.
Source: The strange connection between the NSA and an Ontario tech firm
Case # 34644 Matthew David Spencer v. Her Majesty the Queen (December 9, 2013) At issue is Whether section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was violated. The appellant downloaded child pornography from the internet using a peer-to-peer file-sharing software program. The appellant stored child pornography in a shared folder and did not override the default settings that made the folder accessible to others. Since the files were accessible to other users they could therefore be downloaded. A police officer searched the shared folder and discovered the pornographic files. The officer couldn’t identify the owner of the folder but was able to determine that the IP address being used was assigned by Shaw Communications. The police wrote to Shaw and requested information identifying the assignee at the relevant time. Shaw Communications identified the user as the appellant’s sister. The police obtained a warrant and searched her residence, where they seized the appellant’s computer. The appellant was charged with possession of child pornography and making child pornography available.
An interesting case, especially when read against the scholarship that examines the Charter and PIPEDA implications of disclosing subscriber data absent a court order.
If you’re interested in Bitcoin then this is an absolutely wonderful article. The author has done an exceptional job in explaining how Bitcoin operates by walking you through the steps – and problems – of building a contemporary cryptocurrency. It’s not a short read, but it’s well worth the time.
The CBC redacted the Snowden documents concerning NSA surveillance during the G8/G20. While I can agree that some of the redactions were appropriate the majority that were made seem excessive.
My dissertation is now available to the public!
Excited Pixels