I really liked Robin Wong’s reflection on why he keeps returning to the same streets to make his images.
the beauty of doing the same routines, walking the same paths is the familiarity of the location, and you know every turn and corner, you know the details inside out, so you can be prepared for the unexpected. That is also the exciting part of shooting on the streets, you will find something unusual, something you will not know will happen beforehand, and the surprise is worth the redundant process of walking the same streets all over again. […] It isn’t about finding something completely new or extra-ordinary to shoot but finding beauty in the most ordinary settings and make it worth clicking your shutter button for.[^ Emphasis added.]
Like Wong, I’ve found that familiarity can sharpen my eye. Because I walk the same places regularly, I’m able to find the images I do. Having seen the same scene hundreds of times, I can tell when something has changed or that there’s some novelty in the scene that’s before me.
To some extent I think of regularly seeing the same scenes a little like drinking whiskey. At first, whiskey just tastes hot and spicy; any differences seem more theoretical than real. But over time you notice subtle nuances and also detect rarified variances between what you’re enjoying. And you can get excited over little things that really aren’t apparent or distinguishable to someone that hasn’t built up the same kind of palate.
When you walk the same streets over and over, you develop your own sense of what should and shouldn’t be there. You can detect what’s normal or novel. By training your eye on these common spaces, you develop your style. If you need to find something novel in the same place over and over, you’ll develop a unique way of seeing the world, whereas if you’re always seeing a new place you don’t need to stretch in quite the same way — you don’t need to push yourself to develop your sense of what is visually interesting to you.
All of which is to say: from afar, street photography can look pretty dull or boring because there’s a lot of repetition. It’s exactly this repetition, however, that helps you discover the kind of photographer you are.
Back in February 2022, I made a commitment to myself. I set out to add a bit more positivity to the internet by reaching out to writers whose work inspired me, or photographers whose images resonated with me. I wanted to thank them for their efforts and let them know their work was appreciated.
Recognizing People Matters
It is all too common for people to move through life without peers, friends, or family recognizing the importance of their work or the ways they’ve shaped others’ lives. In my personal life, it was only after my father died that many of the kids he’d mentored reached out to me to share how he had positively affected the course of their lives. His Facebook feed was filled with comments from people who had benefitted from his generosity and kindness. But I was left wondering: had they ever told him directly about his impact? And if they had, might he have avoided his death of despair?
And I’ve seen the power of professional recognition–and felt the cost of its absence. Years ago, after a major project wrapped up, I realized I had forgotten to recognize the exemplary contribution of a junior staff member. I went back into the room to point out how critical their work had been. That small moment of recognition, as it turned out, had a profound impact on their career trajectory. And it was only after I left my last professional job that people contacted me from around Canada about how the work I produced had influenced them, their practice, and their thinking. I’ll be honest: when I left that job, I felt like I’d been writing into a void. Almost no one ever directly recognized the work I was producing or the value they placed in it.
Recognizing Creatives
On Glass, I try to leave a couple of comments on other photographers’ work each month. Sometimes those comments are short, like “Love the composition!👏👏👏 ,” or “Great use of tonality across the frame! 👏👏👏” Other times, when I have more bandwidth, I write longer, more substantive reflections on what I see in their images.
I think this kind of recognition matters. Too often, we wait until it’s too late to share it. Positive, explicit recognition can motivate people who may not have received much encouragement otherwise. It’s one of the many reasons why I support Neale James’ Photowalk Podcast and the community of kindness that he fosters with every single episode.
Lately I’ve been thinking about how to take this further. For me, the next step has been to begin collecting prints or zines from photographers whose work or practice I deeply admire. I’m not buying prints from the famous names you see in galleries–no Martin Parrs for me!–but photographers working in niches that speak to me. Owning their prints feels special. It’s not just me saying “great work,” it’s me saying, to them, “I value this enough to want it in my home.”
Ownership is a Kind of Intimacy
There are practical challenges with purchasing other people’s work. As we know, shipping expenses, cost of making physical artefacts, and the economic realities facing both buyers and artists can impede purchasing other creatives’ work. We can’t all afford to purchase prints regularly. But even buying one piece every year, every few years, or even once a decade can make a meaningful difference. It’s a way of supporting creativity and giving artists recognition that lasts.
What’s powerful about this isn’t only the financial support. It’s the intimacy of having someone’s work become part of your everyday life. Unlike a gallery exhibition, which is temporary and public, a print hanging in your home or office is permanent and personal. It shapes the space you live in, and every time you see it you’re reminded of the artist and the respect you have for their work.
That, to me, is one of the most profound ways we can support and recognize each other as creators. It’s something that I continue to do, and I appreciate the works of others that I have the privilege of viewing on a regular basis.
In closing, if a creator’s work inspires you then I’d strongly encourage you to leave a comment, send a note, or even consider acquiring a print. It might mean more than you know.
I’m an amateur Toronto-based documentary and street photographer, and have been making images on the street for over a decade. In the fall of 2023 I purchased a used Leica Q2. I’d wanted the camera for a while, but it wasn’t until late 2023 that I began running into situations where I’d benefit from a full-frame sensor. Since then I’ve been going out and making images with it at least once a week for hours at a time and have made tens of thousands of frames in all kinds of weather.
In this post I discuss my experiences using the Leica Q2 in a variety of weather conditions to make monochromatic JPG images. I tend to exclusively use either single-point autofocus or zone focusing, and either multi-field or highlight-weighted exposure modes, generally while using aperture priority at 1/500s to freeze action on the street. My edits to images have, previously, used Apple Photos and now rely on the Darkroom app on my iPad Pro. You can see the kinds of images that I’ve been making on my Glass profile.
Crescent & Cluny, Toronto, 2024
Before I get into the review it’s worth being clear what I’m not reviewing. I am not undertaking a technical sensor analysis, evaluating the Q2’s RAW flexibility, or assessing its colour rendering because I exclusively make monochromatic JPGs. There are lots of reviewers who have covered off those areas and I’d encourage you to check them out for a wider assessment of the Q2’s abilities.
TLDR: I really like this camera and it’s good for the specific uses that I have for it. However, I generally wouldn’t recommend it (or other Leica Q-series cameras) to most people because they can get most of the Q2’s benefits at a fraction of the cost.
Why I chose the Q2
I previously used a Fuji X100F for many years. It’s a great camera but I had started to run into challenges when making images into the night during the fall and winter seasons; it just couldn’t capture images quickly enough to effectively freeze action, even when shot wide open at f/2.0. I wanted to continue using a rangefinder-style camera, a fixed lens to keep things simple, a full-frame sensor to collect more light, and also wanted weather sealing to give me some peace of mind for when I had the camera out in rain and snow.
Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, Toronto, 2024
This didn’t leave a lot of options! I ultimately selected the ‘regular’ Q2 because at the time I waffled on whether I’d ever want to be able to make colour images (I haven’t) and because the Q2 Monochrom tended to sell for about $1,500 (CAD) more. That pushed the cost of the Monochrom over $8,000 from reputable online sellers, and the price point was a bit too rich for my blood.
How the Q2 handles in practice
Day to day, the Q2 is intuitive. The menus make sense, the body feels excellent in the hand, and it encourages steady handheld shooting. The button placement largely aligns with how I work, though I do wish I could assign one control specifically for exposure lock such as by remapping the crop button that I never use (save for when pressed accidentally with gloves).
Ontario & Princess, Toronto, 2024
In Toronto’s spring, summer, and fall the Q2 never overheats and handles seasonal rain showers with no issues. Even after taking it to windy beaches I don’t have any dust on the sensor. Negatively, the strap lugs can be slightly abrasive against my index finger depending on how I’m holding the camera. Also, on the hottest summer days when the humidex pushes temperature to 40 °C or more I perspire a lot, which can sometimes cause the camera body to get a bit slippery in my hands.
Bay & Queen, Toronto, 2025
Winter is a bit different. The Q2 is an all-metal body. In winter I add the Leica leather half-case because the body gets cold quickly, and I also wear gloves and attach a thumb grip. The Leica thumb grip (purchased used on eBay!) is really helpful to stabilize the camera because the camera’s indented thumb rest just isn’t sufficient in that situation. I’ve had no issues using the camera in the snow, including heavy snowfalls. I carry two batteries with me during the winter but it’s pretty rare that I need the second one save for particularly long walks on exceedingly cold days. 1
Living at 28mm on full frame
Whereas once I saw in 35mm (equivalent) with the Fuji X100F, now I see in the 28mm of the Leica Q2. I really like fixed lenses because they let me immediately pre-visualize scenes and I know exactly where I need to be to make certain images.
While there was a learning period with the Q2 — I just had to get closer to my subjects! — at this point I have an instinctive understanding of what the Q2 ‘sees’ before even raising the camera. 28mm is a relatively wide focal length and so I’m careful to check the edges of my frame before making an image to ensure that I don’t have unnecessary extras lingering on the outskirts of the frame. The sensor produces huge 47-megapixel images which gives me cropping flexibility, though I try to mostly compose in-camera.
Cumberland & Bellair, Toronto, 2025
The full-frame sensor is a huge benefit to me and how I make images. I prefer working at 1/500s and let my ISO roam as high as 6400. The Q2 lets me have this and, also, a relatively narrow aperture to capture depth across the scene. And, in the depths of fall and winter when night arrives somewhat early, it’s super helpful to be able to open the lens as wide as f/1.7. While I don’t tend to shoot a lot of images at this aperture I really do appreciate the option and will use it during the evenings, as well as in low-lit indoor locations. The combination of the sensor and terrific lens means that I’m rarely prevented from making an image in any given situation.
Learning curve, tips, and a few warnings
Coming to the Leica Q2 from the X100F felt like a natural progression. Widening from a 35mm-equivalent to 28mm pushed me to get a little closer, but I was already comfortable working near my subjects, so the adaptation was more about refining habits than learning new ones. What I do miss from the Fuji system are the recipes; Fuji’s approach to in-camera JPG looks is brilliant and the Q2 doesn’t offer anything comparable. I understand Leica added more styles on the Q3, but on the Q2 those options are extremely limited to slight modifications of contrast, highlight, shadow, and sharpness.2
In my experience, the camera also has a real tendency to blow out highlights and can be inconsistent with white balance. If you shoot RAW that’s more of an inconvenience than a problem, but as a JPG shooter it can be frustrating. That said, I am often able to reduce the blowouts by using highlight-weighted metering. This metering mode helps me protect bright areas while allowing deep shadows in my images.
Yonge & Gould, Toronto, 2025
The single-point autofocus is reliable and I rarely have issues focusing on a subject or pre-focusing on an area where I expect people to pass. The zone-focusing scale could use finer spacing—the 2m to ∞ gap feels too compressed—and it’s too easy to accidentally nudge the focus ring if I brush against it. A bit more resistance on the ring would reduce the chance of the zone shifting accidentally and costing me a shot.
The other reality of the Q2 is its weight. This is a heavy camera! I carry it in my hand, tethered with a Peak Design Leash, for four to eight hours at a stretch on photowalk days. I’m used to it but whenever I grab my X100F or a Ricoh GR IIIx for a short walk, I’m reminded of how substantial the Leica really is.
Has the Q2 improved my street photography?
No, not really.
The improvements I’ve seen come from being out and making images. The Q2’s full-frame sensor and weather sealing removed some frictions that I’d experienced but they didn’t magically transform either my eye or the calibre of images that I’ve been making. It’s the hundreds of hours put into walking the streets, reviewing images, studying photobooks, and learning from YouTube (and applying those learnings in practice) that have benefitted my images. I have no doubt that if I’d just kept using my Fuji I would also be a better photographer today than I was the day I purchased my Leica.
Gerrard & Galt, Toronto, 2024
I will say, however, that the switch didn’t significantly set me back: because I was so used to the 35mm (equivalent) focal length, and the Leica pares away most of the options in contemporary cameras, that it was quick to learn. I suspect that wouldn’t have been the case if I’d tried switching to a camera system with more baroque or confusing menus or features, or shifted to a radically different focal length.
Likes, dislikes, and the small things that matter
One of the intangibles is that the Q2 is beautiful. I live in a small home and it’s on display so I pass it, and appreciate it, several times every day.
A small but meaningful quality-of-life detail is the battery mechanism that holds the battery in place until you push to release it. It’s a very small thing but it’s one that I appreciate each time I need to charge a battery.
Baldwin & Augusta, Toronto, 2024
The Q2 does lack a flip screen though that hasn’t been a practical problem for me. I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable this past year zone focusing; between that and my familiarity with what the 28mm lens will ‘see’ I can reliably get low-angle images without a tilting back screen.
I can confirm what some reviewers have found, that the EVF and the rear screen don’t always match in brightness/tonal presentation, which makes it hard to use them interchangeably when setting exposure for monochromatic images. I recommend committing to one viewing method and letting your eye calibrate to it.
Yonge & King, Toronto, 2025
It’s worth recognizing that file sizes on the Q2 are big, especially once you start aggregating thousands of images. Regarding image formats, JPEG XL has been getting more attention lately for its compression efficiency, improved dynamic range as compared with JPG images, and future proofing around data storage. The Q2 was released before this format began to see adoption, so I don’t fault Leica for leaving it out. However, whenever I do upgrade I’d definitely want my next camera to support it.
Would I recommend the Q2 to other street photographers?
In most cases, no.
I bought this camera for very specific reasons: I wanted a full-frame sensor, weather sealing, and a fixed lens with a wide aperture. Very few cameras meet that combination and most photographers don’t truly ‘need’ all three at once. If you can compromise on one or more of those requirements, there are fixed-lens cameras and interchangeable-lens systems that offer better flexibility and value. And I’d note that I wasn’t exactly kind to my Fuji X100F — it went out and got wet in light rain and snow, and was exposed to extreme temperatures and dust — so even non-weather sealed systems can survive a lot more than we tend to credit them for!
Queen & Spadina, Toronto, 2025
As for the “Leica look,” I don’t have much to say. I honestly don’t really know what it means after making images on the Q2 for a few years. Of course, I’m not editing RAW images, nor using advanced Photoshop features, but that’s largely because I only have so much time and I’d rather be making images on the streets than designing them at home in Photoshop or other editing software.
In Summary
Ultimately, if you want a supremely reliable camera that will hold up for years, you’re comfortable with a fixed 28mm and being physically close to your subjects, and you accept the Leica premium, then I think you’d be pretty happy owning a Leica Q2. Of course that’s a very, very narrow audience but it’s one that I happen to inhabit.
Chestnut & Armour, Toronto, 2025
I’m very glad I bought mine, I’ve used it a lot, and I’m nowhere near its technical or artistic limits. I expect to get many, many, many more years of use out of it before I’m even tempted to upgrade to a new camera.
As a pro tip: if you’re buying a second battery for the Q2 make sure you get one that fits in the Q3 — it’s the same size but has significantly more capacity, and is officially supported in the Q2 series of cameras. You can even charge it using the Q2’s own charger! ↩︎
See Phil Clark’s assessment for how minor these adjustments are when applied to native JPGs produced by the Leica Q2. ↩︎
Specifically, the bill proposes updating the Coast Guard’s responsibilities to include:
security, including security patrols and the collection, analysis and disclosure of information or intelligence.1
This language, paired with provisions granting the Minister explicit authority to collect, analyze, and disclose intelligence,2 marks a meaningful shift. The update would echo the U.S. model, where the Coast Guard is both a maritime safety organization and an intelligence actor. The U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence (CG-2) has long played a dual role in maritime domain awareness and national security operations.
Why does this matter?
There are a few strategic implications:
1. NATO and National Security Alignment: The expanded role may help Canada meet NATO funding expectations, especially where the Coast Guard is deployed to conduct maritime surveillance and to maintain an Arctic presence.
2. Statutory Authority: These changes might establish a legal basis for intelligence collection practices that are already occurring, but until now may have lacked clear legislative grounding.
3. Redundancy and Resilience: With global intelligence sharing under strain, having a domestic maritime intelligence function could serve as a backstop if access to allied intelligence is reduced.
4. Northern Operations: Coast Guard vessels, which are not militarized like Royal Canadian Navy warships, are well-positioned to operate in the Arctic and northern waters, offering intelligence capabilities without the geopolitical weight of a military presence.
To be clear, this wouldn’t transform the Canadian Coast Guard into an intelligence agency. But it would give the institution statutory authorities that, until now, have not explicitly been within its official purview.
It’s a small clause in a big bill, but one worth watching. As researchers, journalists, and civil society take a closer look at Bill C-2, this expansion of maritime intelligence authority could (and should) draw more attention.
30(2) of C-2, amending 41(1)(f) of the Oceans Act↩︎
Western policy makers, understandably, often focus on how emerging technologies can benefit their own administrative and governance processes. Looking beyond the Global North to understand how other countries are experimenting with administrative technologies, such as those with embedded AI capacities, can productively reveal the benefits and challenges of applying new technologies at scale.
The Rest of the World continues to be a superb resource for getting out of prototypical discussions and news cycles, with its vision of capturing people’s experiences of technology outside of the Western world.
Their recent article, “Brazil’s AI-powered social security app is wrongly rejecting claims,” on the use of AI technologies South American and Latin American countries reveals the profound potential that automation has for processing social benefits claims…as well as how they can struggle with complex claims and further disadvantage the least privileged in society. In focusing on Brazil, we learn about how the government is turning to automated systems to expedite access to service; while in aggregate these automated systems may be helpful, there are still complex cases where automation is impairing access to (now largely automated) government services and benefits.
The article also mentions how Argentina is using generative AI technologies to help draft court opinions and Costa Rica is using AI systems to optimize tax filing and detect fraudulent behaviours. It is valuable for Western policymakers to see how smaller or more nimble or more resource constrained jurisdictions are integrating automation into service delivery, and learn from their positive experiences and seek to improve upon (or avoid similar) innovation that leads to inadequate service delivery.
Governments are very different from companies. They provide service and assistance to highly diverse populations and, as such, the ‘edge cases’ that government administrators must handle require a degree of attention and care that is often beyond the obligations that corporations have or adopt towards their customer base. We can’t ask, or expect, government administrators to behave like companies because they have fundamentally different obligations and expectations.
It behooves all who are considering the automation of public service delivery to consider how this goal can be accomplished in a trustworthy and responsible manner, where automated services work properly and are fit for purpose, and are safe, privacy protective, transparent and accountable, and human rights affirming. Doing anything less risks entrenching or further systematizing existing inequities that already harm or punish the least privileged in our societies.
There’s a lot happening, legislatively in Ontario. One item worth highlighting concerns the requirement for Ontario colleges and universities to develop security research plans.
The federal government has been warning that Canadian academic research is at risk of exfiltration or theft by foreign actors, including by foreign-influenced professors or students who work in Canadian research environments, or by way of electronic and trade-based espionage. In response, the federal government has established a series of guidance documents that Canadian researchers and universities are expected to adhere to where seeking certain kinds of federal funding.
The Ontario government introduced Bill 33, Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025 on May 29, 2025. Notably, Schedule 3 introduces requirements for security plans for Ontario college of applied arts and technology and publicly funded university.
The relevant text from the legislation states as follows:
Research security plan
Application
20.1 (1) This section applies to every college of applied arts and technology and to every publicly-assisted university.
Development and implementation of plan
(2) Every college or university described in subsection (1) shall develop and implement a research security plan to safeguard, and mitigate the risk of harm to or interference with, its research activities.
Minister’s directive
(3) The Minister may, from time to time, in a directive issued to one or more colleges or universities described in subsection (1),
(a) specify the date by which a college or university’s research security plan must be developed and implemented under subsection (2);
(b) specify the date by which a plan must be provided to the Minister under subsection (4) and any requirements relating to updating or revising a plan; and
(c) specify topics to be addressed or elements to be included in a plan and the date by which they must be addressed.
Review by Minister
(4) Every college or university described in subsection (1) shall provide the Minister with a copy of its research security plan and any other information or reports requested by the Minister in respect of research security.
Japan has passed legislation that will significantly reshape the range of cyber operations that its government agencies can undertake. As reported by The Record, the law will enable the following.
Japan’s Self-Defence Forces will be able to provide material support to allies under the justification that failing to do so could endanger the whole of the country.
Japanese LEAs can infiltrate and neutralize hostile servers before any malicious activity has taken place and to do so below the level of an armed attack against Japan.
The Self-Defence Forces be authorized to undertake offensive cyber operations against particularly sophisticated incidents.
The government will be empowered to analyze foreign internet traffic entering the country or just transiting through it. (The government has claimed it won’t collect or analyze the contents of this traffic.) Of note: the new law will not authorize the government to collect or analyze domestically generated internet traffic.
Japan will establish an independent oversight panel that will give prior authorization to all acts of data collection and analysis, as well as for offensive operations intended to target attackers’ servers. This has some relationship to Ministerial oversight of the CSE in Canada, though perhaps (?) with a greater degree of control over the activities understand by Japanese agencies.
The broader result of this legislative update will be to further align the Japanese government, and its agencies, with its Five Eyes friends and allies.
It will be interesting to learn over time whether these activities are impaired by the historical stovepiping of Japan’s defence and SIGINT competencies. Historically the strong division between these organizations impeded cyber operations and was an issue that the USA (and NSA in particular) had sought to have remedied over a decade ago. If these issues persist then the new law may not be taken up as effectively as would otherwise be possible.
Any number of commentators have raised concerns over whether the USA could become an illiberal state and the knock on effects. A recent piece by Dr. Benjamin Goldsmith briefly discussed a few forms of such a reformed state apparatus, but more interestingly (to me) is his postulation of the potentially broader global effects:
The dominant ideology of great powers will be nationalism.
International politics will resemble the realist vision of great powers balancing power, carving out spheres of influence.
It will make sense for the illiberal great powers to cooperate in some way to thwart liberalism – a sort of new ‘Holy Alliance’ type system could emerge.
The existing institutional infrastructure of international relations will move towards a state-centric bias, away from a human-rights, liberal bias.
Mass Politics and soft power will still matter, but the post-truth aspect of public opinion in foreign policy will be greater.
For a middle state like Canada, this kind of transformation would fundamentally challenge how it has been able to operate for the past 80 years. This would follow from the effects of this international reordering and due to our proximity to a superpower state that has broadly adopted or accepted an anti-liberal democratic political culture.
Concerning the first, what does this international reordering mean for Canada when nationalism reigns supreme after decades of developing economic and cultural integrations with the USA? What might it mean to be under a ‘sphere of influence’ with an autocratic or illiberal country? How would Canada appease Americans who pushed our leaders to support other authoritarian governments, or else? Absent the same commitments (and resources) to advocate for democratic values and human rights (while recognizing America’s own missteps in those areas) what does it mean for Canada’s own potential foreign policy commitments? And in an era of rising adoptions of generative AI technologies that can be used to produce and spread illiberal or anti-democratic rhetoric, and without the USA to regulate such uses of these technologies, what does this mean for detecting truth and falsity in international discourse?
In aggregate, these are the sorts of questions that Canadians should be considering and is part of why our leaders are warning of the implications of the changing American political culture.
When it comes to our proximity to a growing anti-liberal democratic political cultural, we are already seeing some of those principles and rhetoric taking hold in Canada. As more of this language (and ideology) seeps into Canadian discourse there is a growing chance that Canada’s own democratic norms might be perverted with extended exposure and following American pressures to compel alterations in our democratic institutions.
The shifts in the USA were not entirely unexpected. And the implications have been previously theorized. An anti-liberal democratic political culture will not necessarily take hold amongstAmericans and their political institutions. But the implications and potential global effects of such a change are before us, today, and it’s important to carefully consider potential consequences. Middle states, such as Canada, that possess liberal democratic cultures must urgently prepare ways to plot through what may be a very chaotic and disturbing next few decades.
Matt Burgess at Wired has a good summary article on the current (and always ongoing) debate concerning the availability of strong encryption.
In short, he sees three ‘classes’ of argument which are aimed at preventing individuals from protecting their communications (and their personal information) with robust encryption.
Governments or law enforcement agencies are asking for backdoors to be built into encrypted platforms to gain “lawful access” to content. This is best exemplified by recent efforts by the United Kingdom to prevent residents from using Apple’s Advanced Data Protection.
An increase in proposals related to a technology known as “client-side scanning.” Perhaps the best known effort is an ongoing European proposal to monitor all users’ communications for child sexual abuse material, notwithstanding the broader implications of integrating a configurable detector (and censor) on all individuals’ devices.
In this broader context it’s worth recognizing that alleged Chinese compromises of key American lawful interception systems led the US government to recommend that all Americans use strongly encrypted communications in light of network compromises. If strong encryption is banned then there is a risk that there will be no respite from such network intrusions while, also, likely creating an entirely new domain of cyber threats.
The United States has bilateral CLOUD Act agreements with the United Kingdom and Australia, and Canada continues to also negotiate an agreement with the United States.1 CLOUD agreements are meant to alleviate some of the challenges attributed to the MLAT process, namely that MLATs can be ponderous with the result being that investigators have difficulties obtaining information from communication providers in a manner deemed timely.
Investigators must conform with their domestic legal requirements and, with CLOUD agreements in place, can serve orders directly on bilateral partners’ communications and electronic service providers. Orders cannot target the domestic residents of a targeted country (i.e., the UK government could not target a US resident or person, and vice versa). Demands also cannot interfere with fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech. 2
… 20,142 requests to U.S. service providers under the agreement. Over 99.8 percent of those (20,105) were issued under the Investigatory Powers Act, and were for the most part wiretap orders, and fewer than 0.2 percent were overseas production orders for stored communications data (37).
By way of contrast, the “United States made 63 requests to U.K. providers between Oct. 3, 2022, and Oct. 15, 2024. All but one request was for stored information.” Challenges in getting UK providers to respond to US CLOUD Act requests, and American complaints about this, may cause the UK government to “amend the data protection law to remove any doubt about the legality of honoring CLOUD Act requests.”
It will be interesting to further assess how CLOUD Acts operate, in practice, at a time when there is public analysis of how the USA-Australia agreement has been put into effect.
In Canada, the Canadian Bar Association noted in November 2024 that new enabling legislation may be required, including reforms of privacy legislation to authorize providers’ disclosure of information to American investigators. ↩︎
Excited Pixels 