(Un)Lawful Access
“There’s a kind of anxiety over the way the Internet is opening up and allowing so many opportunities for uncontrolled freedom of expression, uncontrolled sharing of information… and that lack of control is a real problem for many government agencies.”
We just saw the screening for this mini-documentary, followed by a panel of experts here in Vancouver. They were discussing the impending consequences of the Canadian government passing the shameful Lawful Access bill.
The bill is designed to allow law enforcement to intercept all Internet traffic at the ISP level, and pull meta data such as names and IP addresses without a warrant.
Backers of the bill claim it’s necessary for a safer, more secure Internet for Canadian citizens. They believe that pulling this type of sensitive data is no different than pulling a name from a phone book.
You know what’s funny? Law enforcement has access to all of the data in question already… with a warrant. This bill simply allows them to bypass the paper work and access the personal data of any citizen for any reason (or no reason at all), without the “nuisance” of due process. This removes all accountability from the national police and intelligence forces and gives them free licence to use said power in whatever way they deem reasonable. What constitutes reasonable? Nobody knows for sure, but judging from other countries that have taken such liberties with their citizen’s privacy… it won’t take much.
There are a lot of other serious implications that the experts in the film can explain far better than I can, so stop reading this, and watch.
You can also view and download each interview in its entirety for your own remixing pleasure.
Further Resources
- Film Website
- Links and info about the film and the bill from OpenMedia
- Stop Spying petition
For Our American Friends
Because you’ve got even bigger fish to fry…
- Defend The Internet (make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom)
- Lockdown by Cory Doctorow
- …and the more in-depth talk.