Ottawa to give police more power to snoop

[tuvor]

OTTAWA -- The federal government will introduce legislation this fall that would give police and national security agencies new powers to eavesdrop on cellphone calls and monitor the Internet activities of Canadians, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said yesterday.

The bill would allow police to demand that Internet service providers hand over a wide range of information on the surfing habits of individuals, including on-line pseudonyms and whether someone possesses a mischief-making computer virus, according to a draft outline of the bill provided to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

After a speech to a police association in Ottawa, Mr. Cotler confirmed that his government will soon bring "lawful access" legislation to cabinet for final approval before it is introduced in the House of Commons.

The minister said the law is needed to replace outdated surveillance laws that were written before the arrival of cellphones and e-mail.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050819/COTLER17/TPNational/Canada

[EST]

1. Jeebus h gawd! There goes Canada.

[BattyDem]

2. I understand that new technology has made old surveillance laws obsolete

but why is it that the new laws don't seem to require "probable cause" - if you have a suspect and you need to snoop to gain evidence against him, fine. Get a warrant. But why does law enforcement suddenly need the right to snoop on anyone for any reason. :shrug: :grr:

[wli]

3. and Canada goes down the toilet, too n/t

[applegrove]

4. Hell - since you Americans have rights to our emails.. it is only fair

that our own government gets a chance to catch criminals too.

You know that any American corporation or computer company has to turn over files and info on all their customers all over the world? And that they are not aloud to speak about it?

So - my bell/msn emails are easily read by the FBI (well not mine - in particular or at all). Why can't my very own government (or agent thereof) read them?