Canada's spy agency has warned the Trudeau government that proposed changes to bolster privacy could undermine the ability of intelligence agents to collect and use information about citizens.
In a 14-page submission to the Justice Department, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service recommends any reforms include special language that takes into account "the critical public interest in national security activities" carried out by CSIS.
The Privacy Act governs how federal agencies collect, use and disclose personal information and gives people the right to see, and correct, such data the government holds about them. Defining publicly available information in the Privacy Act as it relates to CSIS would be welcome given a current lack of clarity, said Tim McSorley, national co-ordinator of the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group.
In the submission, CSIS says the threshold for what amounts to "collection" of information, if changed in the law, should be tied to the "mandate and functions" of an agency such as CSIS.The intelligence service suggests that information it collects with consent from someone undergoing a security clearance for a job should also be available, when relevant -- and without receiving additional consent -- to CSIS personnel investigating a national-security threat.
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