Libby Davies hosts a public forum about Internet surveillance. Watch live at 7 p.m. PST/10 p.m. EST.
privacy
Community members drop by CSIS offices with some questions
Montreal -- Community members showed up at the offices of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in Montreal yesterday morning, intent on engaging in a little role reversal. The group came equipped to photograph and interrogate people entering the offices in an action called "profile the profilers."
Watch the livestream rebroadcast: There's still time to stop Bill C-30 on Internet surveillance
Libby Davies hosts a public forum in Vancouver about Bill C-30, the Conservative Bill that aims to violate our privacy. Livestreamed on March 21 at 7PM PST/10PM EST, watch to find out what you can do to the passage of the bill. Moderator: Libby Davies (NDP Member of Parliament, Vancouver East). Speakers: Jasbir Sandhu (NDP Critic for Public Safety), Sarah Beuhler (Open Media.ca), Jim Sayre (President, VCN - Vancouver Community Network) and Michael Vonn (BC Liberties Association). Details: http://rabble.ca/whatsup/theres-still-time-stop-bill-c-30-internet-surveillance
Activist Toolkit weekly roundup: Vikileaks, community resistance, mad workshops, Women's Day
| February 23, 2012Bill C-30
On Valentine's Day 2012, Conservative Public Safety minister Vic Toews along with Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced Bill C-30, originally named the Lawful Access Act. An hour later, the bill's name was changed to Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. This happened in the wake of SOAPA in the United States, a bill that also proposed letting police have more access and power online.
What it is
Harper's border deal expands the national security state
The Canada-U.S. "Beyond the Border" agreement announced in December 2011 promotes bilateral "friendship, sharing, and collaboration." These are excellent values. They are instilled in kindergarten. But if Canada wants to build an adult relationship with the United States, we need to openly address issues of civil rights, due process and accountability.
Technological security for activists
Okay, so we all get that we can surf the web and find amazing tools for organizing, collaborate and blog about our campaigns. But when it comes to creating secure searches, protecting our privacy and organizing online things get a little harder. Many activists brush aside these protective measures because they don't think they have the skills - this can be risky and unwarranted thanks to Hacktion Lab.
The privacy commissioner's 'top-down' approach and disappearing citizen participation
Is something rotten with privacy?
The word "czar" in politics, a colloquial designation of an omnipotent commissioner responsible for the state of affairs in a particular area, highlights the high degree of his or her autonomy and the scarcity of checks and balances under which the czar acts. The privacy commissioner of Canada is one such czar with the mandate to protect citizens' privacy rights.
The independence of the czar from other government bodies has a clear rationale: that person is expected to curb the government's appetite for invading the citizens' privacy. But should that czar also enjoy a significant degree of autonomy from citizens?
