Wireless companies (eg-mobile phones) will be applying this week to bid on new frequencies being made available by the government.
The government auction, in January next year, is for space in the 700 megahertz band. This is a particularly desirable spectrum as it supports the new 4G technology, and has good penetration through buildings, meaning fewer lost communications.
Consumer groups hope bidders will include companies other than the big three in Canada (Rogers, Bell, Telus) resulting in more competition and lower prices. Canadian pay among the highest prices in the world for mobile device use.
However, behind the upcoming auction is another little known facet involving mobile use in Canada. As per rules by Industry Canada stated on their website, each carrier must allow “interception capabilities as authorized by law” as a condition of their access to bandwidth,
That rule has applied in every spectrum auction since 1996.
In other words, for over a decade, companies bidding for broadband space must agree to provide police and government intelligence agencies access to text messages, eavesdropping, pinpointing whereabouts, and unscrambling of encrypted communications.
Recent leaks of a secret order allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor American citizens wireless use, sent shock-waves through the public. But the only real difference between Canadian and US law, is that in Canada there must be a warrant for each instance in which law authorities monitor wireless communications.
Canadians should note that the NSA has free reign to monitor any and all foreign calls or communications which are routed into or through the US
The Canadian regulations are spelled out in a 1995 law called the Solicitor General’s enforcement Standards for Lawful Interception of Telecommunications, which specifies the need for a court-approved warrant.
While the SGES accord underlies lawful surveillance in Canada, very few Canadians know of it
“This document contains sensitive content and is not publicly available,” said Jean-Paul Duval, a Public Safety Canada spokesman,in an e-mail response to a Globe and Mail newspaper request for an interview, which was declined.
“Real-time, full-time” eavesdropping on conversations is only one of the several capabilities sought by police, according to the SGES. Authorities also want records of call logs, texts, keystrokes and other data, including “the most accurate geographical location known.” Carriers that scamble communications for their customers, must descramble them for police and provide any and all data within mere milliseconds, “100ms-500ms is the desirable target” reads the standards.
In 2005, the Canadian government drafted a bill that would have extended the same demand to internet service providers and other telecom-related services. That bill also would have eliminated the need for a warrant, but it died without being passed.
John McAfee, founder of the McAfee antivirus software company, says the Canadian government undoubtedly has the same capacity to spy on its citizens as the U.S. McAfee says his company sold vast amounts of products to all services of the US government, and he is well aware of US monitoring capabilities. McAfee made the comment recently while in Montreal working on a documentary about his life.
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