Survey indicates vast majority of Canadians oppose warrantless online spying

Today the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada published the results of a survey, in which 82% of respondents opposed "giving police and intelligence agencies the power to access e-mail records and other Internet usage data without a warrant from the courts."

Additionally, 83% of respondents agreed that Internet companies ought to ask their customers for permission to track their online behaviour and Internet usage.

These results are especially relevant as the Conservative government prepares to pass a set of "Lawful Access" bills, which would allow for this kind of warrantless online spying. With likely a vast majority of Canadians uncomfortable with this extension of government powers—not to mention concern from every provincial privacy commissioner, the official opposition, a coalition of academics and public interest organizations, and and over 40,000 signatories to the Stop Online Spying petition—it is clear that the Lawful Access bills clearly do not reflect the will of Canadians.

Survey results also indicate that Canadians are "deeply suspicious about the collection and use of personal information by public- and private-sector organizations." Only 22% of respondents said governments are taking their obligations to protect privacy seriously.

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Sign the Stop Online Spying petition HERE.

Read more about the Privacy Commissioner's survey HERE.