From Gigaom.com

Canadians sue spy agency over mass data collection

by Jeff John Roberts OCT. 23, 2013

A Canadian spy agency is collecting meta-data about its citizens' phone records and internet activity, according to a new lawsuit, which is the first such case in the country since the PRISM scandal broke in the US this summer.

The legal fallout over government surveillance operations, which have been widely publicized as a result of leaks from a US security contractor, has spread north of the border where two activist groups filed a lawsuit asking a court to declare that the Canadian government is violating the country's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The case, announced on Tuesday by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Union and internet advocacy group OpenMedia.org, claims that the eavesdropping agency, Communications Security Establishment Canada, is collecting vast amounts of meta-data about Canadians phone records and internet activities.

An agency spokesperson responded to the suit by saying the activities are not directed at Canadians but at foreigners.

The case resembles legal challenges filed by groups like the ACLU and NSA in the United States, and also involves complicated questions about how exactly the government collects data and what is permissible without a warrant.

In the US, leaks from former NSA contract Edward Snowden have revealed that the government requires phone carriers to collect "metadata," including a record of all phone calls (though not recordings); the spy agencies can then request more specific records based on patterns or intelligence tips. A similar program, known as PRISM, vacuums up data from internet companies like Google and Yahoo, and is overseen by a secret spy court.

The new lawsuit alleges similar practices are underway in Canada, which is a member of the so-called "Five Eyes" alliance of English-speaking democracies (also including the UK, the U.S., Australia and New Zealand) that closely share intelligence information.

Constitutional experts queried by the Globe & Mail said the case is ground-breaking and novel for Canada's privacy laws.

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From Aljazeera.com

Germany and Brazil seek UN privacy resolution

General Assembly resolution to highlight international anger at US data spying in other countries, diplomats say. 26 Oct 2013

Germany received information that the US is spying on the mobile phone communications of Chancellor Merkel [AFP]

Germany and Brazil are working on a UN General Assembly resolution to highlight international anger at US data spying in other countries, diplomats have said. The resolution would not mention the United States, but would call for extending UN's multilateral treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to internet activities. "German and Brazilian diplomats met counterparts from Europe and Latin America today to discuss a draft resolution," a UN diplomat involved in the talks said on condition of anonymity on Friday. "The aim is to send a message to those who abuse the system," added the diplomat. Amongst the core group of countries at the meeting were envoys from France, Sweden, Norway and Austria. Germany has been angered by eavesdropping on Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone by US intelligence. Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff cancelled a trip to the US last month over allegations the National Security Agency intercepted her office's communications. Rousseff had already announced that Brazil would seek a UN measure on privacy. The two countries expect to register a draft resolution at a UN General Assembly committee that handles human rights next Friday and a vote should be held before the end of November. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights went into force in 1976, before the internet started. But Brazil and Germany want a provision of the covenant that says "no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation" extended to cyberspace.