Eavesdropping agency’s personal info banks go unlisted despite legal obligation

OTTAWA – The Defence Department appears to have broken the law by failing to publish the latest personal information listings of Canada’s electronic eavesdropping agency.

Under federal privacy law, ministers are obliged to list the personal data banks — which hold information about individuals — compiled by agencies in their portfolios.

However, there is no public listing this year for Communications Security Establishment Canada, known as CSEC, which reports to the defence minister.

The omission has prompted University of Ottawa professor Amir Attaran to lodge a complaint with the federal privacy watchdog.

The issue arises amid concerns about the sort of personal information CSEC and its close American ally, the National Security Agency, is collecting.

CSEC spokesman Ryan Foreman says the spy service’s personal information banks used to be listed along with other Defence Department holdings, but in future will be cited separately, as CSEC is now a standalone agency.