Hello Andrew,
Thank you for your letter regarding Bill C-30, the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act. I am happy to provide some information to explain the limits of this bill and assure you that measures are in place to protect the security and privacy of Canadians. I would also like to outline the changes this bill will make to help protect children.
First, please allow me to assure you that the police will not be able to read emails or view web activity unless they obtain a warrant issued by a judge. I will take more time to outline the safeguards to protect privacy later on, but I wanted to make that clear right away.
I would also like to share an example of why the changes in this bill are necessary. A child was abducted in British Columbia in 2011. An amber alert was broadcast and, fortunately, the suspect returned the child. However, the suspect was not apprehended and his location remained unknown. Through further investigation, police obtained an IP address associated with the suspect. Police contacted the internet service provider directly and were advised that it was against policy to provide subscriber information related to an IP address without a Production Order, which can take days, weeks or months to obtain. Thankfully, police were able to convince the service provider to voluntarily release the information by explaining that the suspect had already abducted one child and that other children could possibly be at risk. The service provider decided to share the information and the suspect was located and apprehended less than 24 hours after police received the information. In many cases, service providers refuse to voluntarily release such crucial information and delays occur which can allow offenders to evade apprehension.
We need this bill because rapid changes in technology mean crimes and national security threats are more difficult to investigate. As a result, criminals, gangs and terrorists have found ways to exploit technological innovations to hide their illegal activities. That is why we need to give law enforcement and CSIS the investigative tools essential to keep our communities safe.
Bill C-30 would require telecommunications service providers (TSP) to:
• implement and maintain systems capable of lawfully gathering communications in order to support the police and CSIS when needed; and
• provide basic subscriber information in a consistent and timely fashion to a few designated police members, CSIS and Competition Bureau officials upon request (limited to subscriber name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, the Internet protocol address, and the name of the service provider).
In addition, the bill would:
• streamline the application process when court orders or warrants need to be issued in relation to an investigation that involves interceptions;
• update existing offences in the Criminal Code to ensure that they are able to cover new ways of committing old crimes;
• create new, carefully tailored investigation tools, such as production and preservation orders in the Criminal Code and the Competition Act;
• enable Canada to ratify the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime and its Additional Protocol on Xenophobia and Racism; and
• add the safeguards of reporting and notification for the interception of private communications in exceptional circumstances.
The proposed legislation also strengthens safeguards to protect the privacy of Canadians. It would impose strict limits on the number of CSIS and law enforcement officials who are permitted to make basic subscriber information requests, and apply new requirements for recording, reporting, and auditing those requests.
The proposed legislation is consistent with that of Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, and will improve Canada’s ability to work with its international partners to combat crime and terrorism. As well, the need to modernize the investigative capability of law enforcement was also unanimously supported by Canada’s provincial and territorial justice and public safety ministers.
We all agree that police need the tools to do their job efficiently and effectively, and we all agree that Canadians’ security and privacy is important and must be protected. So, it is time for an open discussion about how to better protect Canadians from online crime. That is why we are sending this legislation directly to Parliamentary Committee for a full examination of the best ways to protect Canadians while respecting their privacy.
I look forward to reviewing the next draft of the bill which will be posted at www.parl.gc.ca.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. I trust this information is of use to you.
Kind Regards,
Shelly Glover, MP