People
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is warning people that, more often than they think, Internet communications between them and an endpoint in Canada often goes through the United States, making it subject to surveillance from a foreign government.
CIRA said in a press release Wednesday that a team of researchers from the University of Toronto, through a newly developed web tool called IXMaps, found thousands of Internet routes that start and end in Canada but are routed through the U.S.
Online information leaker WikiLeaks published on Friday what it said were parts of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that reveal provisions for Internet service providers to block access to content subject to copyright restrictions.
The text presented by WikiLeaks dealt with intellectual property portions of the TPP, which Canada and 11 other countries announced on Monday they had agreed to.
Internet advocacy group OpenMedia released a “report card” Thursday ranking the federal parties’ digital policies ahead of the election, in which the NDP received an overall grade of A- while the Liberals had a C and the Conservatives a D+.
OpenMedia gave the Conservative Party an F on privacy, for reasons including bills C-13 and C-51, which OpenMedia said undermine privacy and expand government surveillance.
Telus Corp., in its second annual transparency report, said the quantity of requests from government agencies for customer information fell 5.3 per cent to 97,938 in 2014.
It said requests for customer names and addresses were down 24.3 per cent to 30,946 last year, and the decline was largely due to a Supreme Court decision that said warrants are necessary to obtain personal information about customers of Internet service providers.
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) announced Tuesday a new website for testing the performance of one's Internet service.
The web application will tell users their current download and upload speeds, and provide data about other Internet speeds throughout Canada. Advanced details are also available, which the website says can help service providers and network administrators sort out problems.
The government will introduce new legislation aimed at strengthening the security of “Canada’s essential cyber systems” that will impose new obligations on telecommunications companies, though exactly how or when the rules will change remains to be seen.
The government will spend $36.4 million over five years on “protecting vital cyber systems,” the federal budget, released Tuesday, stated.
Industry Minister James Moore said on Twitter Tuesday that Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, has passed at the House of Commons industry committee and would be “referred back to the House for final debate [and] vote soon.”
Moore defended the bill when he appeared at that committee in February. The bill is the government’s most recent attempt to update the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
It became illegal Thursday to install software on another person's computer, smartphone or other device without their consent, the CRTC said.
The commission said in a press release that the new rules are part of anti-spam legislation that came into force last July.
For instance, the installation of software from a website or updates to a smartphone app will now require the device owner's approval, the CRTC said.
Bill C-8, officially known as the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, and Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, both received royal assent on Tuesday.
Bill C-13 has been criticized by many, including Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien, for measures that make it easier for telecommunications service providers to voluntarily provide authorities with customers' personal information.