Uh, wait a second, some of us here in Canada do still value some level of privacy as part of the fabric of Canadian life…
(Click here for the original CTV story)
A consultation document obtained by CTV News reveals the [Canadian] government is planning to hold talks to “address the challenges faced by police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Competition Bureau when seeking timely access to basic Customer Name Address (CNA) information.”
The Canadian Public Safety Department wants to let police gain access to a bunch of information on-demand without the need for a court order. Gee, THAT sounds like a good idea. I’m sure there wouldn’t be ANY abuse of that power.
In the words of G.O.B.: COME ON!
According to the document, the government hopes to gain access to customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, IP addresses and cellphone data, saying it is often vital to a police investigation.
We watch shows like Law & Order and quietly hope the mildly resistant clerk or assistant gives information to the detectives on the spot instead of insisting on a court order. Not such a good thing to cheer for in real life.
If the police have a good reason to think they need access to the information, they can go get a court order. Otherwise it’s just fishing expeditions, not investigation, and I do not want our police to have that kind of unbridled access.