Petition against Internet surveillance bill tops 90,000 signatures

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      Tens of thousands of people have expressed opposition to the Conservative government's Internet surveillance legislation.

      The controversial Bill C-30, which would require ISPs to give up customer data to authorities without a warrant, was introduced in the House of Commons on Tuesday (February 14).

      At time of writing, an online petition titled "Stop Online Spying" had been signed 90,984 times.

      The petition—addressed to Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews—states:

      We oppose mandatory Internet surveillance. This scheme is poorly thought out, costly, and will leave our personal information less secure. Unchecked mass surveillance is a breach of our fundamental right to privacy.

      OpenMedia.ca, a Vancouver-based Internet advocacy group, posted the petition.

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

      Comments

      13 Comments

      victoriacronin

      Feb 17, 2012 at 8:32am

      As a law-abiding citizen, I resent any semblance of interest in my private life on the part of any government.

      If innocent until proven guilty means anything, without a judicial warrant outlining good reasons to investigate me, the government should not only stay out of my bedroom and the bedrooms of all Canadians, but out of our living rooms, too.

      I was brought up to never read another person's mail or to open a wallet, document or purse that was not mine. What is this government (which, by the way, was NOT elected by a majority of Canadians, but by a defective system) teaching its citizens?

      Linda

      Feb 18, 2012 at 3:17pm

      Internet snooping, is just another method of government control. The media is controlled. The only way Canadians can learn the truth, is on the internet. And, by all means the truth must not get to the public's ears.

      I even heard Ibbitson of the G&M, telling the F.N. they should permit the Enbridge pipeline through BC. So you know, we can't rely on the media for honesty and fairness, to the citizens.

      This isn't quite a fascist, dictatorship country right yet, but Harper is working on it. Harper is holding secret meetings behind closed doors. He hates when he is exposed on the web. That's why he is hiding his dastardly deeds from the people. Harper has a lot to hide.

      I could care less about Toews stupid divorce. I just don't like his henchman attitude. We are pedophiles if we are against the internet snooping. How asinine is that?

      It's bad enough, Harper is destroying Democracy in Canada. That he is taking our Civil Rights and Liberties away from us...Now he wants to take, our freedom of speech away from us too. Even another country's media wrote about it.

      Harper has been banned from, The New Trans Pacific Trade Group. Harper was not permitted a seat in the U.N. Other country's are fed up with, Harper's bullying and his hissy fits, when he doesn't get his own way. He is so stubborn, arrogant and co-operates with no-one.

      Anton

      Feb 19, 2012 at 6:46pm

      I remember listening to a radio interview, maybe a year ago, with an old programmer who played a major role in building the internet.

      They asked him what he thought the future of the internet looked like and he more or less described what is happening now, saying the internet allows more freedom than most governments would feel comfortable allowing.

      c sturgeon

      Feb 19, 2012 at 7:16pm

      If snooping helps save or protect 1 child, Bring It On! I could care less if the government looked at what I do on line because I have nothing to hide. As far as I can tell the Internet is a public forum, so how can anyone demand privacy any more than they could if they did something out in the street?

      dur

      Feb 20, 2012 at 4:02pm

      it's not JUST about internet snooping. we are talking all telecommunications as well. this has everything to do with silencing critics (hello.. pipelines, Harper already threatened tax auditing on any charity that expresses support for the protesters).

      you write an angry comment on some online newspaper comments like this one then a week later the police are at your door with 10 pages of your online activites.

      harper needs to leave this surveillance bill in China, where he most likely found it while he was there agreeing to hand over dissidents to them.

      morgus

      Feb 20, 2012 at 6:49pm

      Online petitons do not mean very much. I am personally sick of hearing about this. There are so many more pressing issues than free movies and music and meaningless legal protection from internet snooping, it will be done whether it is legal or not.

      Pat Crowe

      Feb 21, 2012 at 9:39am

      Given the general uproar over this proposed legislation wouldn't it make sense for Harper to go on national television to allay Canadians fears and clearly spell out why Canadians should be on board with this reform of privacy laws?
      What would he have to worry about if he is on the high ground?

      Josiah

      Feb 21, 2012 at 10:58am

      (From Open Media)September 20, 2011 – Under the intense pressure of a 70,000+ signature petition, the government has omitted “Lawful Access” (Online Spying) bills from the larger omnibus crime legislation announced today.

      Tell me again how Internet petitioning is worthless you Morgus you twat.

      iarecanadian

      Feb 22, 2012 at 6:05pm

      Fingerprints are not mere phone book Information!
      Demanding the customer’s name, address, telephone number, email address, Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the name of the telecommunications service provider of every Canadian internet user is no different than demanding that every Canadian citizen be fingerprinted and the last time I looked you cannot obtain fingerprints without a warrant.

      Kasia

      Feb 22, 2012 at 10:03pm

      I think we should be spying on the federal government... the biggest criminal in the entire nation. The Harper Government alone has driven the incidence of crime in the nation upward. If you want to see the crime rate drop, never vote Conservative again.