Bill C-30, Better Known as Online Spying Act

Hello everyone!

First, I apologize for posting a bit late. I will post a number of articles in the next few days to get caught up.

These days, Bill C-30 is a hot topic. In case you are not familiar with this bill, you can read about it on the website of the Parliament of Canada, and here. In short, Bill C-30 grants the Canadian government access to users' online information such as IP address, name and other personal information through Internet Providers.

This bill has been created to target internet predators, and has also been called the “Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act”. Due to its possible (and probable) "spying" consequences, it has also been nicknamed "Online Spying Bill".

The introduction of this bill has caused major public debates, and while a few, such as Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, think this is a great idea, and it enhances citizens' security, there are thousands of people against it. Websites have been created to provide public awareness regarding (and against!) this bill; an online petition was created that asks Stephan Harper to respect the Liberal amendments to the Online Surveillance Bill; people decided to "tell vic everything" and flood the Minister's tweeter; and some even decided to threaten him! Here are a few example of the fun tweets tweeted to Toews (taken from here)!

"I don't like you,"

"I lost an email from my work account yesterday. Can I get your copy?"

"I used soy milk in my cereal today. Still on the fence about it,"

CBC news and other websites compared the this bill to the George Orwell's "Big Brother" story, 1984, while some other said it is the "Canadianized" version of SOPA.

On the other side of the story is Vic Toews who has stated that the people opposing the bill are supporters of pedophiles. This, and some of his other comments have been criticized by people and the media.

While I think digging up online dirt on criminals or suspects is essential to ensure citizens' security, I believe that it is an invasion of our privacy if it is done without a warrant. I also have to agree with a few of the critics of this bill in regards to its costly implementation. In this economy, I think there are better ways to spend tens or maybe hundreds of million dollars than to spend it on something that not only is not necessary but it also raises so many questions. Another major concerns is about the level of data security that the government has to provide for the users' data. I truly believe in what Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian has said

“This is going to be like the Fort Knox of information that the hackers and the real bad guys will want to go after. This is going to be a gold mine ... The government will say that they can protect the data, and they can encrypt it. Are you kidding me? The bad guys are always one step ahead.”

I really hope the Canadian government revises this decision. I do not want to feel like a criminal and have constant fear of identity theft, privacy erosion, and spying. Many of us are immigrants and have left our home country to escape dictatorships and insecurity. It is only fair that our new home provides us with these most basic human rights, the feeling of security and trust.

Let me know what you guys think!