MDD 2012 Announces Privacy & Surveillance Panel
Media Democracy Days 2012 Announces Privacy & Surveillance Panel
Media Democracy Days (MDD) 2012 announces an upcoming panel discussion titled ‘Who’s Watching You?’ taking place November 3 from 3:00-4:30PM at The Vancouver Public Library. Privacy experts will talk on threats to civil liberties in the context of electronic surveillance. Amidst recent reports of federal concerns over foreign control of Canada’s online networks, the panel promises to address threats to both personal privacy rights as well as national security.
In the past weeks, several news items have reported that Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) has serious security concerns over the world’s leading telecom equipment manufacturer, the China-based Huawei Technologies. The company has recently made major inroads with Canadian firms such as Telus, Bell, SaskTel and Wind Mobile. CSE warns that Canada’s networks may be at risk of having messages intercepted by the Chinese government.
Privacy advocate Lindsey Pinto of OpenMedia.ca argues that a factor further complicating matters is the government’s contentious online spying bill C-30. If passed into law, the bill would lead to immense and unsecure registries of Canadian Internet users’ and their personal data.
“With the advent of increased foreign control over Canada’s networks it seems reckless to consider a bill that would weaken Canadians’ control over private data” – data that could easily be accessed by companies like Huawei Technologies.
Pinto will be appearing on MDD 2012’s ‘Who’s Watching You?’ panel alongside BC Civil Liberties Association Policy Director, Micheal Vonn, and privacy advocate Runa A. Sandvik from the U.S.-based Tor Project, which has developed onion routing network software that allows citizens to circumvent online censorship and surveillance.
‘Who’s Watching You’ will take place Saturday, November 3 at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Library (350 W. Georgia St.) from 3:00-4:30PM in the Alma VanDusen Room.
All events are open and free to the public. MDD 2012 is a partnership of SFU’s School of Communication, OpenMedia.ca, and The Vancouver Public Library, and is sponsored in part by Vancity.
Media Democracy Days Vancouver 
U.S. Expanding Cross-border Police Integration With Canada & Asset Forfeiture Sharing
Concurrent with Obama’s proposed law legalizing and expanding cross-border police integration in North America, Canadians earlier this year discovered introduced (Commons Bill C-30 touted to protect children on the Internet—would also give any Canadian police officer—without a warrant—the power to request Internet service providers turn over customers’ information (see section 17 of C-30); allow Canadian police to seek into Canadians’ private computers. C-30 was strongly opposed by Canadians in April 2012. Canadians further discovered Canada had signed with the United States an array of (Asset Forfeiture Sharing Agreements) for Canada to share
Canadian and Americans assets civilly or criminally confiscated using Asset Forfeiture laws that resulted from U.S. and Canada sharing information gleaned from electronic surveillance of Canadian and American Citizens’ communications, e.g., emails, faxes, Internet actively, phone records.
Compare: The Obama Government wants the power (without a warrant) to introduce as evidence in U.S. Civil; Criminal and Administrative prosecutions any phone call record, email or Internet activity. Police can take out of context any innocent—hastily written email, fax or phone call record to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause a person’s arrest, fines and or civil asset forfeiture of their property. There are more than 350 laws/violations that can subject property to Government forfeiture that require
only a civil preponderance of evidence.
The U.S. “Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000” (effectively eliminated) the “five year statue of limitations” for Government Civil Asset Forfeiture: the statute now runs five
years (from the date) government or a police agency allege they “learned” an asset became subject to forfeiture. It is foreseeable should (no warrant) government electronic surveillance be allowed; police will relentlessly sift through business and Citizens’ (government retained Internet data), emails and phone communications to discover possible criminal or civil violations. History Repeats: A corrupt or despot U.S. Government/Agency can too easily use no-warrant—(seized emails, Internet data and phone call information) to blackmail Americans, corporations and others in the same manner Hitler used his police state no warrant passed laws to extort support for the Nazi fascist government, including getting members of German parliament to pass Hitler’s
1933 Discriminatory Decrees that suspended the Constitutional Freedoms of German Citizens. A Nazi Government threat of Asset Forfeiture of an individual or corporation’s assets was usually sufficient to ensure Nazi support.
Under U.S. federal civil asset forfeiture laws, a person or business need not be charged with a crime for government to forfeit their property. Most U.S. Citizens, property and business owners that defend their assets against Government Civil Asset Forfeiture claim
an “innocent owner defense.” This defense can become a criminal prosecution trap for both guilty and innocent property owners. Any fresh denial of guilt made to government when questioned about committing a crime “even when you did not do the crime” may (involuntarily waive) a defendant’s right to assert in their defense—the “Criminal Statute of Limitations” past for prosecution; any fresh denial of guilt even 30 years after a crime was committed may allow U.S. Government prosecutors to use old and new evidence, including information discovered during Civil Asset Forfeiture Proceedings to launch a criminal prosecution. For that reason: many innocent Americans, property and business
owners are reluctant to defend their property and businesses against Government Civil Asset Forfeiture. Annually U.S. Government seizes Billions in assets without filing criminal charges. Increasingly local police are turning their criminal investigations over to Federal Agencies to receive an 80% rebate of forfeited assets. Federal Government is not required to charge anyone with a crime to forfeit property.
Re: waiving Criminal Statute of Limitations: see USC18, Sec.1001, James Brogan
V. United States. N0.96-1579. U.S. See paragraph (6) at:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-1579.ZC1.html