Canadian privacy services insecure by law.

It looks like people who care about Internet anonymity need to look outside Canada for their providers. It is not just a concern that the Canadian government would be able to subpoena the information, but it is also vulnerable to insider and external attack. If the data exists, it will eventually leak.

Starting today Canadian Internet providers are required to forward copyright infringement notices to their subscribers. This notification scheme provides a safe harbor for ISPs but is also expected to result in a surge in piracy settlement schemes. The new law further causes trouble for VPN providers, who are now required to log customers for at least six months.

Canadian ISPs and VPNs Now Have to Alert Pirating Customers | TorrentFreak

Lance Cottrell is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Anonymizer. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

The Privacy Blog Podcast - Ep. 21:

In episode 21 of our podcast for July, I talk about:

• A decision giving Canadians more rights to Anonymity
• Iraq's recent blocking of social media and more
• Iran's outright criminalization of social media
• A court decision requiring warrants to access cell tower location data
• Another court stating that irrelevant seized data needs to be deleted after searches
• A massive failure of data anonymization in New York City
• A court requiring a defendant to decrypt his files so they can be searched
• The Supreme Court ruling protecting cellphones from warrantless search.
• Phone tracking streetlights in Chicago
• And a small change for iPhones bringing big privacy benefits

Canadian Supreme Court ruling protects on-line anonymity

Canada’s Supreme Court just released a ruling providing some protection for on-line anonymity. Specifically, the ruling requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before going to an Internet provider to obtain the identity of a user. Previously they were free to simply approach the provider and ask (but not compel) the information.

The judges found that there is a significant expectation of privacy with respect to the identifying information, and that anonymity is a foundation of that right.

Unfortunately the case in question revolves around child pornography, which creates a great deal of passion. Much of the reaction against the decision has come from those working to protect abused children. Because the ruling has implications primarily far from child porn cases, I applaud the court in taking the larger and longer view of the principle at work.

It is important to remember that the court is not saying that the information can not be obtained. This is not an absolute protection of anonymity. This decision simply requires a warrant for the information, ensuring that there is at least probable cause before penetrating the veil of anonymity. 

Other analysis: here, here, here.

Lance Cottrell is the Founder and Chief Scientist of Anonymizer. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.