🇨🇦 Canada needs real digital sovereignty NOW to secure the future we deserve. ✍️ Endorse the Digital Sovereignty Charter’s five principles today! https://openmedia.org/DigitalCharter-mtd @OpenMediaOrg
@Chowarmaan
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Software Developer, Baseball Player, Social Commentator, Wise Cracker, Friend
Can Skynet Be A Statesman? via @hackaday https://hackaday.com/2026/01/21/can-skynet-be-a-statesman/
How the Liberal and Conservative Parties Have Quietly Colluded to Undermine the Privacy Rights of Canadians https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/11/how-the-liberal-and-conservative-parties-have-quietly-colluded-to-undermine-the-privacy-rights-of-canadians/ via @mgeist
How the Liberal and Conservative Parties Have Quietly Colluded to Undermine the Privacy Rights of Canadians - Michael Geist
It hasn’t received much attention, but the government and official opposition - ie. the Liberals and Conservatives - have been quietly working to pass legislation that undermine the privacy rights of Canadians, effectively exempting themselves from the privacy rules imposed on everyone else. As I highlighted in June, Bill C-4 was promoted as “affordability measures” bill but it also includes provisions that exempt political parties from the application of privacy protections. The provisions, which come toward the end of the bill, are deemed to be in force as May 31, 2000, meaning that they retroactively exempt the parties from any privacy violations that may date back decades. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance wrapped up its study of the bill last week and incredibly it refused to hear from any witnesses that would speak to the issue. In fact, despite concerns raised in briefs from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Commissioner of Elections, the committee (consisting almost entirely of Liberal and Conservative MPs) limited its discussion of an entire section of the bill to a thirty second description of the provisions from a government official. No witnesses, no debate, no acknowledgement of concerns raised by experts. It was as if the provisions do not exist.
Bill C-2 is anti-privacy, anti-rights, and anti-Canadian! We need your voice to stop it. ✊ Tell our leaders to scrap this dangerous bill NOW! #StopBillC2 @OpenMediaOrg openmedia.org/Stop-BillC2
Government Reverses on Privacy and the Charter: Department of Justice Analysis Concludes Political Party Privacy Bill Raises No Charter of Rights Effects https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/06/government-reverses-on-privacy/ via @mgeist
Government Reverses on Privacy and the Charter: Department of Justice Analysis Concludes Political Party Privacy Bill Raises No Charter of Rights Effects - Michael Geist
The Department of Justice has released its Charter Statement for Bill C-4, the affordability measures bill that also exempts political parties from the application of privacy protections on a retroactive basis dating back to 2000. The provisions give political parties virtually unlimited power to collect, use and disclose personal information with no ability for privacy commissioners to address violations. Charter statements are designed to identify Charter rights and freedoms that may potentially be engaged by a bill and provide a brief explanation of the nature of any engagement, in light of the measures being proposed. The Bill C-4 Charter statement is notable for its brevity: The Minister of Justice has examined Bill C-4, An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure, for any inconsistency with the Charter pursuant to his obligation under section 4.1 of the Department of Justice Act. This review involved consideration of the objectives and features of the Bill. In reviewing the Bill, the Minister has not identified any potential effects on Charter rights and freedoms.
Lawful Access on Steroids: Why Bill C-2’s Big Brother Tactics Combine Expansive Warrantless Disclosure with Unprecedented Secrecy https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/06/lawful-access-on-steroids/ via @mgeist
Lawful Access on Steroids: Why Bill C-2’s Big Brother Tactics Combine Expansive Warrantless Disclosure with Unprecedented Secrecy - Michael Geist
Earlier this week, I wrote about how the government’s inclusion of warrantless information demand powers in Bill C-2 may make this the most dangerous lawful access proposal yet, exceeding even the 2010 bill led by Conservative Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. The post emphasized the broad scope of the information demand power. Unlike prior lawful access proposals that targeted telecom and Internet companies, Bill C-2 targets anyone that provides a service to the public. This could include physicians, lawyers, accountants, financial institutions, hotels, car rental companies, libraries, and educational institutions. The list literally never ends. Each of these service providers could be compelled to confirm whether they have provided services to any subscriber, client, account, or identifier. They must also disclose whether they have any information about the subscriber, client, account or identifier as well as advise where and when they provided the service. On top of that, they must advise when they started providing the service and list the names of any other person that may have provided other services. All without a warrant or court oversight. Department of Justice officials provided a briefing on the provisions yesterday and confirmed this reading of the bill. Officials acknowledged that Bill C-2 extends far beyond just telecom companies to services such as financial institutions, car rental companies, and hotels. When asked about hospitals, physicians, and other health professionals, the officials affirmed that they were covered as well (officials claimed that there would still be the need for a criminal investigation, but that is incorrect since this applies to any Act of Parliament, not just the Criminal Code).
More Than Just Phone Book Data: Why the Government is Dangerously Misleading on its Warrantless Demands for Internet Subscriber Information https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/06/more-than-just-phone-book-data-why-the-government-is-dangerously-misleading-on-its-warrantless-demands-for-internet-subscriber-information/ via @mgeist
More Than Just Phone Book Data: Why the Government is Dangerously Misleading on its Warrantless Demands for Internet Subscriber Information - Michael Geist
Government and law enforcement justifications for warrantless access to Internet subscriber information has long been defended on the grounds that the information being demanded carries little privacy interest. The go-to claim was always that it was “phone book information”, a reference to the largely discontinued practice of printing an annual public directory that included name, address, and phone number. The problem with that argument was that the information at issue included data points such as IP addresses and device identifiers, which could be used to track users and monitor online activity without a warrant. Moreover, linking a specific user to a specific IP address or other identifier effectively unlocks the door to potentially very sensitive information that is otherwise unavailable. Indeed, there is a reason that law enforcement logged over a million warrantless requests per year for basic subscriber information prior to the Supreme Court shutting down the practice.
What Is With This Government and Privacy?: Political Party Privacy Safeguards Removed in “Affordability Measures” Bill https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/06/what-is-with-this-government-and-privacy-political-party-privacy-safeguards-removed-in-affordability-measures-bill/ via @mgeist
What Is With This Government and Privacy?: Political Party Privacy Safeguards Removed in “Affordability Measures” Bill - Michael Geist
Fresh off Bill C-2 and lawful access provisions buried in a border safety bill, the government has now quietly inserted provisions that exempt political parties from the application of privacy protections in Bill C-4, an “affordability measures” bill. The provisions, which come toward the end of the bill, are deemed to be in force as May 31, 2000, meaning that they retroactively exempt the parties from any privacy violations that may date back decades. The ostensible reason for the provisions is a B.C. case that applied provincial privacy law to federal political parties. I discussed the case with Colin Bennett in this episode of the Law Bytes podcast in 2023. The government is now seeking to render that case moot and provide all political parties with an effective exemption from any privacy laws other than measures found in the Elections Act. An appeal of the B.C. case is scheduled to be heard later this month.
The Bill on Canada’s Digital Policy Comes Due: Blocked News Links, Cancelled Sponsorship, Legal Challenges, and Digital Ad Surcharges https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/09/the-bill-on-canadas-digital-policy-comes-due-blocked-news-links-cancelled-sponsorship-legal-challenges-and-digital-ad-surcharges/ via @mgeist
The Bill on Canada’s Digital Policy Comes Due: Blocked News Links, Cancelled Sponsorship, Legal Challenges, and Digital Ad Surcharges - Michael Geist
Canada’s digital policy has seemingly long proceeded on the assumption that tech companies would draw from an unlimited budget to write bigger cheques to meet government regulation establishing new mandated payments. Despite repeated warnings on Bills C-11 (Internet streaming), C-18 (online news), and a new digital services tax that tech companies - like anyone else - were more likely to respond by adjusting their Canadian budgets or simply passing along new costs to consumers, the government and the bill’s supporters repeatedly dismissed the risks that the plans could backfire. Yet today the bill from those digital policy choices is coming due: legal and trade challenges, blocked news links amid decreasing trust in the media, cancellation of sponsorship deals worth millions of dollars that will be devastating to creators, and a new Google digital advertising surcharge that kicks in next week to offset the costs of the digital services tax.
Conservatives Double Down on Support for Mandated Internet Age Verification and Website Blocking: Why Can’t Canada Get Common Sense Digital Policy? https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2024/02/conservatives-double-down-on-support-for-mandated-internet-age-verification-and-website-blocking-why-cant-canada-get-common-sense-digital-policy/ via @mgeist