Cyberbullying bill surveillance powers alarm Ontario privacy watchdog

Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's privacy watchdog, is sounding the alarm about "overreaching surveillance powers" contained in Bill C-13, the federal government's legislation to combat cybercrime.

In a sharply worded letter sent to Conservative MP Mike Wallace, the chair of the Commons justice committee currently studying Bill C-13, Cavoukian warns the government against beefing up police powers under the guise of protecting children from cyberbullying and other online crimes.

"The time for dressing up overreaching surveillance powers in the sheep-like clothing of sanctimony about the serious harms caused by child pornography and cyberbullying is long past," Cavoukian said in a letter dated May 16.

Under Bill C-13, legislation to protect Canadians from online crime, anyone who posts or transmits an "intimate image" of another individual without that person’s consent could face up to five years in prison. But a number of other measures included in the bill would give police greater powers, such as forcing internet service providers to hand over customer information without a warrant.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cyberbullying-bill-surveillance-powers-alarm-ontario-privacy-watchdog-1.2649523