Spy watchdog flags privacy risk from military’s online intelligence activities
The review agency says information publicly available online can still raise privacy concerns when it's collected and analyzed by government organizations.
A national spy watchdog has raised concerns about potential privacy risks stemming from the military's online intelligence activities targeting Canadians. The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency noted that while the Defense Department and the Canadian Armed Forces have the legal right to gather publicly available information from the web for intelligence purposes, there are gaps in safeguarding privacy and ensuring proper oversight.
The watchdog emphasized that even information publicly accessible online can pose privacy concerns when collected and analyzed by government entities. Canadians should feel confident that intelligence collection is tied to a clear, lawful purpose and that their privacy rights remain respected, the report asserts.
The review revealed that the military fails to systematically link open-source collection activities on the internet to specific approved operations or defense activities. Moreover, existing policies and record-keeping systems do not fully address all privacy risks or demonstrate that collection involving Canadians is indeed necessary.
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