Canada - Verizon could bring U.S. intelligence

[dipsydoodle]

OTTAWA — Canadians’ personal data could end up in the hands of U.S. intelligence agencies if American telecom giant Verizon is allowed to operate here, warns the union representing communications workers.

The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada charged Friday that Verizon’s recently revealed co-operation with the U.S. National Security Agency in its clandestine collection of telephone records of millions of U.S. customers could extend north under a federal policy that eases the sector’s foreign ownership restrictions.

New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., with about 100 million wireless customers, has said it’s eyeing the possibility of entering Canada’s wireless market under relaxed restrictions that allow foreign entrants to buy small Canadian wireless carriers with less than 10 per cent of the market share by revenue. The federal government says the intent is to increase investment and competition.

Canada’s Big Three telecom providers — Rogers, BCE Inc. and Telus — have responded with a fierce lobbying campaign to pressure the government to back down, which observers say is unlikely. Unions and others have joined the fray.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Verizon+could+bring+intelligence/8771271/story.html

[peacebird]

1. This could get Interesting, I mean if other countries kick US communication firms to the curb...

That could be quite fun!
Corporate Profits or supporting the NSA...? Which would win?

[jtuck004]

2. You know that one. We would start seeing a massive PR campaign, baby pictures of a smiling,

cute little baby Bin Laden who couldn't possibly be threat, pictures of Sunday School Teachers with the label "They may be muslim, but they LOVE JESUS", and pictures of terrorists helping little old ladies across the streets, lots of funding for politicians who would scrap any money to the NSA...

Anything to keep their cash registers ringing...

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Lockheed Martin did the IT for the most recent Canadian, UK and US censuses

http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/us/products/census-systems.html

We should assume that all that data has been copied into the NSA database. We see that minor companies get demands to hand over the passwords of customers, and cannot talk about the details, and have to close down if they refuse to cooperate; a fully paid-up member of the military-industrial complex like Lockheed Martin will hand over all data without any hesitation at all.

[Progressive dog]

6. You mean the government even knows

who lives here. That's got to be unconstitutional.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. No, I mean the US govt know the address and religion of every Briton

Our country of birth, our ethnic group, who lives at the same address, their relationship to us, our educational level, and our job. Plus some other stuff they'd be less interested in. And similar data for every Canadian.

[Progressive dog]

8. So this is not a US problem, if the UK and Canadian

governments allow this, take it up with them.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. See 'Canada' in that thread title?

This is indeed about what the Canadian government will allow.

[Progressive dog]

10. In your original title, it was about Verizon collecting data

on Canadians, not about census data. New rules, you get to change subjects and then complain that you were answered.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Talking about Lockheed Martin collecting data on Canadians is a small development

on Verizon collecting data on Canadians. It's not a change of subject. Both are American companies. You, however, dismissed it with "so what? The government should have all that", seemingly unaware this is about what data the US government get on Canadian citizens.

[Progressive dog]

13. I don't care if the Canadian government shares data

with the American government. Why should I? I don't get to vote for the Canadian government and the last I knew Canadians do. There are almost 200 countries in the world, some don't even have elected governments.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. I thought you joining in a thread about Canada meant you cared

Fair enough, you don't care, you just wanted to make a post about a subject you don't care about. I'll stop responding in that case.

[Progressive dog]

15. No I don't have control over the canadian government

and neither does any other US citizen that I know of. But your post basically blames the supposed American access to Canadian data on the American government. That claim is what I was responding to and it was posted in general discussion on a Democratic (USA) political message board.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Verizon Wireless

Has a US Charter only.

That is the first hurdle to overcome.

It also won't look good when they dump Vodafone and do this. And the break up is happening. Just follow the leadership. There are fewer and fewer British accents walking around Basking Ridge these days.

You could also flip this. Gone abroad with your US bases wireless device? None of us own networks outside he US. So if they wanted to - Digicel could give your foreign 'resale' data over to the Jamaican and US gov's. Orange to France and US.

The problem on the OTHER US border is for the US border customer living in Lewiston who originates the call at the ONE spot along Route 104 that is Rogers. Then they charge VZW or At &T who passes through billing to their customer. You have the same issue in Europe for a US Customer abroad. I've received the Monaco Welcome SMS walking around in Eze, France. But there I know the rate is pretty much the same. If I live in Niagara Falls or Lewiston i don't even want to see it on my bill. In a perfec world we could just block each others networks but neither the Canadian or US Govs will allow us to do what I'd the best for the customer.

[JustAnotherGen]

5. Another point to remember

Remember when AT & T came out with the iPhone and the woman whose son wracked up a $20K bill in Canada? Our task at that time as we re-built our global services and re-operationalized them was to never let that happen. Hence the Welcome SMS and the Data Charges SMS to the customer upon entering the foreign Carrier's network. The LAST country we launched this tipping point initiative with was Canada. The major carriers were a beast to deal with as we processed calls/data initiation directly with them as opposed to the middleman of Syniverse.

And they were right to be a beast. They stood to lose a lot of money. They knew we wouldn't hold our customers to a $10k data bill - but we would be held to the bill they sent us.

I give the Canadian Carriers a lot of credit on this. If I'm Nadir Mohamed (CEO of Rogers Wireless) I'm doing anything I can to cement my revenue as it is today. Resisting this effort is a good way to do this. Using the threat of International and Foreign Government surveillance is a solid tactic.

I look at these things a bit differently because I see them through the Prism of "the customer first", "the business" second, everything else to include government interference last.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. Given the Canadian wireless carriers backhaul to the AT&T built Allstream network...

I'm sure they're already here.

Canadians are positively giddy about US networks expanding here, the level of anger Canadians have for Rogers, Telus and Bell is of the intensity Americans reserve only for their HMO. The Justice Department would tear them to pieces here.

The business model of most Canadian businesses is collusion and gouging, Canadians are frustrated that after 25 years of free trade with the US that the collude and gouge status quo hasn't been pummeled to oblivion by US competitors.