News this week that Canada’s electronic intelligence gathering agency CSEC used information from the free internet service at a major Canadian airport to track the wireless devices of thousands of ordinary airline passengers has raised more questions about surveillance in Canada.
The Canadian Security Establishment Canada, Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), says it’s doing nothing illegal and not accessing the content of phone calls or emails, just the metadata of those communications.
However, some surveillance experts and civil liberties supporters suggest metadata, which includes a vast array of information such as a person’s location and who they communicate with, is even more worrying for an individual’s privacy.
RCI’s Wojtek Gwiazda spoke to Sukanya Pillay, Acting Executive Director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) about this latest Canadian surveillance story and the CCLA’s concerns that such an expansion of surveillance without controls threatens the whole idea of a free society.
ListenMore information:
RCI – Canadian intelligence agency CSEC tracked thousands through airport’s free Wi-Fi – here
Canadian Civil Liberties Association website – ccla.org
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