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NUNAVUT
Canadians are engaged in a national debate over whether the federal Conservative government has gone too far with Bill C-30, a law that would allow police and the government to monitor the Internet and mobile phone activity of anyone using Internet in Canada, at will.

"It's something all Canadians need to stand up and talk about," said Nunavut's information and privacy commissioner Elaine Keenan Bengts. "I think everyone needs to be concerned about it because it's going to affect you one way or another."

Bill C-30's short name is the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act, and it would allow police or the government to demand access to information about anyone held by Internet service providers (ISPs) on demand without a warrant.

The ISP would be required hand over customer's name, address, phone number and IP address without a warrant. With an IP address, police can track all of your online activities.

ISPs would also be required to keep detailed records of your activity. They are also forbidden from telling the people who are subject to these investigations when they have handed over their personal information.

Despite the short name, the bill's wording fails to mention either children or predators. As a result, Keenan Bengts is concerned about function creep, which occurs when a system is created for one purpose but used for another.

"There's nothing in the bill that limits it to chasing child predators," she said. "In fact, there are no limits on how it can be used at all. Police can go in ... without a warrant and demand information that connects to an IP address and all sorts of other personal information. Not only does there not have to be a warrant, but there doesn't have to be a criminal investigation underway. There doesn't have to be any real reason for it."

For Keenan Bengts, this is an "erosion of basic civil rights" that sets a bad precedent.

"They're saying right now that it's to get predators and terrorists and drug dealers, but there are no limits to what it can be used for," she said. "It can be expanded to be used for surveilling political opponents, for example, because it's all surreptitious. There's little or no oversight. In fact, there's no oversight, really."

The proposed legislation is similar to existing laws in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, Nunavut MP and cabinet minister Leona Aglukkaq said by e-mail. She encouraged Nunavummiut to read the bill and provide their feedback.

"Our government is open to examining potential amendments, and our aim is to achieve the best protection for not only Nunavummiut, but for all Canadians," Aglukkaq said, noting the government's goal is to prevent criminals from exploiting technology to hide illegal activities, while protecting the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

The RCMP has a policy of declining comment on bills in Parliament, but supports anything that helps the force catch criminals, national media relations officer Sgt. Greg Cox said by e-mail. However, Keenan Bengts said police are already able to catch online predators with the tools they have. As Aglukkaq indicated, the majority government is opening the bill to amendments, and Keenan Bengts says there is a simple one that could end the debate: as is currently the case, require police to obtain a warrant to get information from Internet providers.

"It's worked forever," she said. "To get a warrant, they have to have some basis for a belief that there's a criminal act taking place."

Without a warrant, the bill is "too much, it goes too far," she said.

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