#c-52

"The Panopticon (which means all-seeing) is a model prison devised by British philosopher and legal reformer Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. Its structure, a radical configuration with observation posts in the center and inmates' cells and common areas around the periphery, was designed to ensure guards could always see inmates but never be seen by them. As a result, inmates had to presume guards might be watching them at any given moment, which meant, according to Bentham, that they would have to behave as if they were being watched all the time. In this way, the Panopticon, by its very structure, created the effect of total surveillance, while allowing for actual surveillance to be intermittent and even absent."

Joel Bakan in this month's Adbusters

"The Canadian national anthem proudly honors "The True North strong and free!” Yet Canadians face an imminent round of frightening online spy proposals that threaten long held civil liberties and privacy rights. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has insisted that he won’t budge in his support of online spying legislation despite heavy criticism from privacy watchdogs.

We last discussed the former online spying bills (C-50, C-51 and C-52) Canada’s majority Government sought to advance in October. Collectively called the “lawful access” bills, these measures are essentially a backdoor for law enforcement to easily access personal information. While Public Safety Canada has defended the bills, stating they would enable authorities to protect Canadians from “criminal and terrorist activities” without “infringing on the rights of law abiding Canadians,” the outcry over this legislative mandate has been considerable.

Academics, civil society, all opposing political parties, Internet service providers, and even public officials have continually criticized these bills for risking Canadian’s online security and privacy. As last drafted, the bills represent a dramatic and dangerous attempt to leverage online service providers as agents of state surveillance. They include new police powers that would allow Canadian authorities easy access to Canadians’ online activities, including the power to force ISPs to hand over private customer data without a warrant. Adding insult to injury, the legislation will also pave the way to gag orders that would prevent online service providers from notifying subscribers that their private data has been disclosed–a move that would make it impossible for users to seek legal recourse for privacy violations.