New Powers for Police
In Ottawa, Canada, there is a pending bill that proposes to allow police complete access to Internet communications. The police say they need to upgrade, for Internet security, laws haven’t been updated in forever, and the laws need to move with the times.
This proposition would force ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to make it possible for police to access their databanks for any reason to extract data about users and particularly their conversations.
This push for more Internet power from police has been going strong for almost ten years, and the police think it has been long enough. They insist that with the dawn of the new technological age, criminals are hiding and doing their dirty work online, a place where it is tough for them to get caught.
The police have no surveillance teams online, and don’t have the ability to dispatch a monitoring force, and certainly aren’t allowed to see what criminals do online. This needs to change for people’s safety they say. The police promise not to abuse their power, and even use a warrant system as in a real-life search.
Privacy advocates and others are protesting this potential new ability for the police. They want to keep their privacy online, and believe the police won’t act appropriately with this immense freedom literally at their fingertips. “With great power comes great responsibility”, as the pop culture meme goes.
The public says that there is not enough evidence that the people need to be online to warrant this new power. They ask, “What investigations have been halted due to privacy laws?” Most feel that this is just one step closer to mass surveillance portrayed in books such as 1984, and Brave New World.
The law enforcement’s bill is expected to be discussed and a verdict placed by the Hall of Commons before representatives go on summer recess on Friday. There will be a news conference on Thursday pertaining to the bill.
Police have always wanted to have this right, but past leaders have been to docile to try and pursue it. The new police chief, Van Loan, is more militant; he has been planning this bill for some time.
The police released a document supporting their cause. In a nutshell, it said that criminals are doing business online and hiding there too, because they know they can remain fugitives indefinitely, and nobody can touch them. While the police do have the authority to wire tap phones and other lines, they do not have the right to request information from ISPs about their suspects.
Some are concerned about the cost that will be incurred by these ISPs, having to upgrade to allow police the access they want. While it may be chump change for the massive public ones, smaller, grassroots ISPs will have trouble footing the bill. A previous draft of this bill which was rejected contained a clause that allowed for exemption from small ISPs.
The chief of police says this would cause a major hole in their investigations: “Criminals are smart, and they would just flock to the exempt ISPs then.” If the bill is passed, this concern will have to be addressed.
