Legalizing illegal mass surveillance: A transnational perspective on Canada's legislative response to the expansion of security intelligence
Date
2022
Authors
Ogasawara, Midori
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Canadian Journal of Law and Society
Abstract
This article offers a transnational perspective on Canada’s legislative response to
globally expanded national security intelligence activities in the War on Terror
since 2001. I situate Canada’s new legislation against the backdrop of US and
Japanese legislative responses and analyze the transition, including Bill C-13
(2014), Bill C-44 (2015), Bill C-51 (2015), and Bill C-59 (2019). I argue that the
thrust of this legislative trend has been the active legalization of previously illegal
surveillance activities by security intelligence agencies, rather than passive ineffectiveness
in restricting state mass surveillance enabled by information and communication
technologies. The transition is in synch with a global legislative trend that
lowers the legal standards of privacy and personal data protection and weakens
checks and balances in democratic governance. As a result, mass surveillance has
increasingly undermined and regulated the rule of law, not vice versa.
Description
Keywords
CSIS, CSE, Bill C-51, policy laundering, retroactive immunity, Five Eyes, Snowden
Citation
Ogasawara, M. (2022). “Legalizing illegal mass surveillance: A transnational perspective on Canada’s legislative response to the expansion of security intelligence.” Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 37(2), 317-338. https://doi.org/10.1017/cls.2022.9