XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, van.general   
   XPost: ont.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Which, anyone would have to admit, is a far cry from 'We didn't spy on   
   Canadians'.   
   But that's how the Harper government is playing it.  . . .  much like   
   they have the Senate scandal.   
      
   But we now know they DID spy on all communications out of a major   
   airport - which has been documented by media as being Vancouver   
   International.  Others have mentioned Pearson airport in Toronto.   
      
   And if CSEC intercepted ALL communications from travellers in and out of   
   that airport using wireless communication devices.  There would have   
   been no way for CSEC to separate 'Canadian from foreign' communications.   
     A British Columbia-based civil liberties group has filed a law suit   
   against the Harper government.   
      
   Peter MacKay was the asshole that signed permission for CSEC to do this   
   kind of spying on us in Canada.  And now his clone, Rob Nicholson, is   
   trying to cover up the fact that they are in fact spying on us.  Thank   
   you, once again, Edward Snowden, for exposing to Canadians what Canada's   
   government is up to  . . .   
   _____________________   
   CTVNews.ca Staff - Friday, January 31, 2014   
      
      
   Defence minister insists spy agency did not track Canadian travellers   
   Canada's spy agency is accused of tracking the devices of thousands of   
   passengers using free Wi-Fi at airports. Austin Delaney reports.   
      
      
   Defence Minister Rob Nicholson says there is no evidence that Canada's   
   electronic spy agency used airport Wi-Fi to track the electronic devices   
   of air travellers.   
      
   His defence of the activities of the Communications Security   
   Establishment Canada comes in the wake of a report that alleges CSEC   
   captured information from smartphones and laptops using free airport   
   Wi-Fi, without the travellers’ knowledge.   
      
   That report was based on a top secret document reportedly retrieved by   
   U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden.   
      
   According to the document, dated May 2012, the data were gathered at “a   
   major Canadian airport,” though it wasn’t clear at which airport. The   
   spy service then was able to track the electronic devices for several   
   days after travellers left the airport and to track when the devices   
   were used at other Wi-Fi hot spots in Canada and the U.S.   
      
   Nicholson was asked about the document several times during question   
   period in the House of Commons Friday.   
      
   He responded that “nothing in the documents… showed that Canadian   
   communications were targeted, collected, or used, nor that travellers'   
   movements were tracked.”   
      
   Nicholson’s response was similar to a statement released by CSEC itself   
   Thursday night, in which the agency insisted it had done nothing illegal.   
      
   The agency says it collected only metadata that identified travellers’   
   wireless devices. It did not gather information about the content of   
   emails or calls sent or received from the devices, it said.   
      
   “CSE is legally authorized to collect and analyze metadata,” the agency   
   said in a statement.   
      
   The agency says it is mandated by law to collect foreign signals   
   “intelligence foreign signals” to protect Canada and Canadians, and that   
   it directs its foreign   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   intelligence activities only at foreign entities.   
      
   As for the classified document retrieved by Snowden, CSEC says the   
   document was used in “a technical presentation between specialists   
   exploring mathematical models built on everyday scenarios to identify   
   and locate foreign terrorist threats.”   
   [. . . ]   
      
   Last August, former CSEC commissioner Robert Decary issued a report in   
   which he complained that it appeared that ordinary Canadians   
   communications may have been illegally tracked, but that poor   
   record-keeping meant he couldn't be sure.   
      
   Decary said his office was in the process of reviewing CSEC's practice   
   of collecting metadata, to assess whether it was impacting Canadians'   
   privacy.   
      
   CSEC said Thursday evening it looked forward to that review.   
      
   Last week, a British Columbia-based civil liberties group filed a   
   lawsuit against the federal government, alleging much of CSEC’s   
   intelligence-gathering activity violates the rights of Canadians.   
   Specifically, the association's lawsuit objects to the collection of   
   electronic metadata, which it alleges violates the charter rights of   
   Canadians.   
      
   In a statement of defence, the federal government said that the   
   collection of metadata is critical to the fulfillment of CSEC's mandate   
   and that such collections have prevented attacks against Canadians, both   
   here and abroad.   
      
   "CSEC's ability to acquire metadata, as well as its ability to carry out   
   activities ... that risk the incidental interception of private   
   communications, has contributed to the prevention of attacks against   
   Canadians, both in Canada and Canadian Armed Forces members abroad," the   
   government’s statement of defence read.   
      
   The statement did not offer any specifics to back up the claim.   
      
   Read more:   
   http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/defence-minister-insists-spy-agency   
   did-not-track-canadian-travellers-1.1664333#ixzz2s1ocf8Za   
      
      
      
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