tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6273930.post2914512666755636292..comments2024-03-08T07:29:54.585-04:00Comments on Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Guest post: A police officer's take on informational privacy and the police in the digital ageprivacylawyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03943567746055311435noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6273930.post-80780360597740295772012-10-05T20:21:44.962-03:002012-10-05T20:21:44.962-03:00While I agree that law enforcement is getting bett...While I agree that law enforcement is getting better at finding the identity of individuals on the Internet, and the general public is getting worse at hiding their identity on the Internet, my feeling is that the debate is not really about anonymity at all, but rather control of anonymity.<br /><br />It is possible to hide your identity completely -- techniques such as tor, i2p or freenet with the properly configured systems can make finding the identity of a target if not impossible, challenging and costly. The difference is not only can I be anonymous, but I control my anonymity. I would be curious if readers feel that any individual should be able to hide their anonymity from anyone should they choose to do so?<br /><br />That to me is the real debate, not being anonymous itself, but the individual having the control to decide if their anonymity should or should not be revealed.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6273930.post-28868330986145145702012-09-19T16:19:34.246-03:002012-09-19T16:19:34.246-03:00Thank you for this well thought-out post. I have a...Thank you for this well thought-out post. I have a few thoughts:<br /><br />As a starting point, I think it should be pointed out that the 'emergency situation' scenarios you refer to are a bit of a red herring. I've read Bill C-30, and I do not see anything in there that gives an ISP any discretion to refuse an emergency request for customer identification. I further note that no one is realistically objecting to the emergency provisions in the legislation and were Bill C-30 limited to these, it would likely have passed by now.<br /><br />Turning to the underlying implication of your post -- that, by and large, if you are not a criminal, you need not worry -- I'm wondering what you mean when you make this point. Is it that those who have committed no crimes online will not have their privacy invaded? Or is it that the innocent may well have their anonymous online activity spied upon, but are unlikely to face more direct harm as a result? If it is the former, then I am wondering why anyone would object to limiting the proposed C-30 powers to scenarios where there are objective criteria indicating information will be collected that might help in an investigation. If it's the latter, then I think I take issue with that as the basic premise of privacy protection is to prevent the state from invading the privacy of its citizens without cause.<br /><br />Finally, turning in brief to your Charter analysis, I wonder if a.) you have looked at R. v. Trapp 2011 SKCA 143, and R. v. Spencer 2011 SKCA 144 (the only appellate decisions to weigh in directly on this issue, to date). These cases seemed to think there is an expectation of privacy in one's anonymous online activity. In civil discovery contexts, courts have found along the same lines: Warman v. Fournier, 2010 ONSC 2126. <br /><br />In any case, the SCC will, I'm certain, eventually decide anonymous online actions implicate a biographical core, but putting that aside for now, I'm wondering what your basis is for concluding that the internet is a 'public domain'? You say at the outset of your discussion that names are not private, but there are, of course, many scenarios where a name <i>is</i> private. To take an archetypal example, police do not have the right to stop random people in the street and force them to disclose their names if they have done nothing wrong. Why should the Internet be different?<br /><br />TamirAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6273930.post-85790784145249634822012-09-19T00:43:47.456-03:002012-09-19T00:43:47.456-03:00Excellent article that clearly lays out many of th...Excellent article that clearly lays out many of the concerns and challenges to present and pending legislation.<br /><br />Criminals and those people who wish to use technology for nefarious reasons will look to stop and spread false information about what data can and may be used for.<br /><br />Warren has alleviated many of those fears and has said it succinctly with one line, "If you are a law-abiding citizen and don’t use the Internet to facilitate, perpetrate or associate with criminal activity than you don’t really exist for the police.<br /><br />Thank you Warren.Tim Burrowshttp://tacmedia.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com