The secret federal snooping of the cellphones of 33 million Canadian cellphones during the pandemic will be investigated by the Commons ethics committee, says Blacklock’s Reporter..The ethics committee on Thursday voted 10-0 to investigate the snooping..Conservative MP John Brassard (Barrie-Innisfil, Ont.) accused the cabinet of using COVID-19 as cover for “massive overreach..“It becomes increasingly concerning that government is seemingly using this pandemic as a means and a cause for massive overreach into the privacy rights of Canadians,” said Brassard..“As parliamentarians it’s incumbent upon us to make sure we protect those rights, that there is proper scrutiny and oversight..“The Public Health Agency was collecting data without the knowledge of Canadians, effectively doing it in secret. We need to know what security measures were in place to protect the privacy rights of Canadians.”.Brassard sponsored the committee motion summoning for questioning two successive health ministers who oversaw the cellphone tracking program as well as Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer..The health department confirmed December 21 to Blacklock’s it used cell tower data to track movements of 33 million mobile devices to monitor compliance with lockdown orders..“Many Canadians have become concerned about this issue, and not just this issue but a pattern of government over-reach,” said Brassard..The program operated from the outbreak of the pandemic “without the knowledge of Canadians,” added Brassard..The Public Health Agency confirmed the program after issuing a December 17 notice to contractors to continue data collection for up to five years at an undisclosed cost..Liberal members of the ethics committee agreed to investigate though MP Lisa Hepfner (Hamilton Mountain, Ont.) described the data collection as harmless..“Yes we have to make sure Canadians’ data privacy is being protected, but at the same time do we have any privacy concerns?” said Hepfner..“There is no evidence any Canadians’ privacy has been compromised to date. This is information that companies are collecting now all over.”.“The government is not Google,” replied Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure (Trois-Rivière, Que.). .Canadians “need to understand the big picture,” he said..“I don’t think the Public Health Agency was trying to spy on Canadians. However, I do have a lot of questions. Who acted on behalf of the Agency? Who collected the data? For what purpose? By whom? What was the security behind all of this?”.“We want to make sure the pandemic is not used as an excuse to erode Canadians’ rights.”.The Bloc MP proposed ongoing federal contracting of cell tower tracking data be suspended pending ethics hearings with the committee deferred a vote on it.
The secret federal snooping of the cellphones of 33 million Canadian cellphones during the pandemic will be investigated by the Commons ethics committee, says Blacklock’s Reporter..The ethics committee on Thursday voted 10-0 to investigate the snooping..Conservative MP John Brassard (Barrie-Innisfil, Ont.) accused the cabinet of using COVID-19 as cover for “massive overreach..“It becomes increasingly concerning that government is seemingly using this pandemic as a means and a cause for massive overreach into the privacy rights of Canadians,” said Brassard..“As parliamentarians it’s incumbent upon us to make sure we protect those rights, that there is proper scrutiny and oversight..“The Public Health Agency was collecting data without the knowledge of Canadians, effectively doing it in secret. We need to know what security measures were in place to protect the privacy rights of Canadians.”.Brassard sponsored the committee motion summoning for questioning two successive health ministers who oversaw the cellphone tracking program as well as Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer..The health department confirmed December 21 to Blacklock’s it used cell tower data to track movements of 33 million mobile devices to monitor compliance with lockdown orders..“Many Canadians have become concerned about this issue, and not just this issue but a pattern of government over-reach,” said Brassard..The program operated from the outbreak of the pandemic “without the knowledge of Canadians,” added Brassard..The Public Health Agency confirmed the program after issuing a December 17 notice to contractors to continue data collection for up to five years at an undisclosed cost..Liberal members of the ethics committee agreed to investigate though MP Lisa Hepfner (Hamilton Mountain, Ont.) described the data collection as harmless..“Yes we have to make sure Canadians’ data privacy is being protected, but at the same time do we have any privacy concerns?” said Hepfner..“There is no evidence any Canadians’ privacy has been compromised to date. This is information that companies are collecting now all over.”.“The government is not Google,” replied Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure (Trois-Rivière, Que.). .Canadians “need to understand the big picture,” he said..“I don’t think the Public Health Agency was trying to spy on Canadians. However, I do have a lot of questions. Who acted on behalf of the Agency? Who collected the data? For what purpose? By whom? What was the security behind all of this?”.“We want to make sure the pandemic is not used as an excuse to erode Canadians’ rights.”.The Bloc MP proposed ongoing federal contracting of cell tower tracking data be suspended pending ethics hearings with the committee deferred a vote on it.