OTTAWA — Interception of Canadians’ private communications by the federal electronic spy agency increased 26-fold last year, for reasons authorities won’t fully explain. At least one intelligence expert is concerned the change sidesteps the spirit of Canadian privacy laws. Details are contained in the latest annual report by the independent, external oversight organization that reviews activities of the Canadian Security Establishment (CSE), Ottawa’s super-secret foreign signals intelligence agency. RelatedBut the watchdog Office of the Commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment notes CSE intercepted 342 private communications in 2014-15, compared to just 13 for the previous year. By law, CSE can only target communications of foreign entities outside Canada.

Source: National Post August 24, 2016 21:21 UTC