Category Privacy Rights

News and hard-hitting, insightful, thoughtful, provocative and progressive analysis of privacy rights in Canada and around the world.

Government surveillance erodes “our dignity and the things that make us human,” says Edward Snowden

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden urges us to continue defending our digital rights in the face of burgeoning digital authoritarianism at home and beyond, because mass government surveillance "robs us of private space, eroding our dignity and the things that make us human."

Obert Madondo
December 31, 2020

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg urged to comply with GDPR in all countries by 70 consumer groups

A coalition of consumer and privacy groups from the US, Canada and the European Union is urging Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to ensure that his company adopts the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) "as a baseline standard" for all Facebook users around the world.

Obert Madondo
April 9, 2018

The Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal highlights the problem of “surveillance capitalism” in the digital age

Data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica's scandalous harvesting and use of Facebook user data highlights the urgent need for robust public debate on the emerging problem of “surveillance capitalism” in our increasingly digital society, suggests Jennifer Cobbe, the co-ordinator of Cambridge University's Trustworthy Technologies strategic research initiative.

The Canadian Progressive
March 23, 2018

Edward Snowden creates Haven, a security app for journalists and human rights defenders

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and his team at the Freedom of the Press Foundation have created Haven, a free and open source personal security system for journalists and human rights defenders. The app transforms your cheap second Android phone into a device capable of capturing and reporting intrusions to your physical space and possessions.

Obert Madondo
December 23, 2017

Canada and “Five Eyes” spying partners must respect strong encryption

The final communiqué issued by the "Five Eyes" surveillance alliance after a recent meeting in Ottawa suggests what might turn out to be a made-in-Canada global encryption backdoor.

Obert Madondo
August 4, 2017

Public Safety Committee Thwarts Canadian Police Chiefs’ Hunger For Lawful Access Powers

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security recently thwarted Canadian policing agencies' insatiable hunger for lawful access and related surveillance powers. For now, our elected officials aren't convinced that law enforcement and spying agencies urgently need warrantless access to our digital and online lives.

Obert Madondo
May 16, 2017

WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 dump confirms that encryption still works

WikiLeaks' "Vault 7" leak reveals the CIA's dangerous global hacking arsenal. The dump confirms that encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and WhatsApp remain ordinary citizens' first line of defence against government spying.

Obert Madondo
March 16, 2017

Trump’s “Public Safety” Executive Order Jeopardizes Canadians’ Privacy Rights

Unites States President Donald Trump's powerful Executive Order, the "Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States", issued at the end of January, jeopardizes the privacy and digital rights of Canadians based in the U.S. Meanwhile, information-sharing agreements between Canadian and U.S. governments already grant the Americans substantial access to Canadians' online data and lives.

Obert Madondo
February 27, 2017