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Canadian security agency says airport W-Fi spying program isn’t a bad thing

Canadian security agency says airport W-Fi spying program isn’t a bad thing

There is an old saying that has become more prescient in this technological age that goes something like this: If you are not paying for something, then you are not the customer. You are the product.

Once upon a time, that was simply another way of saying there is no such thing as a free lunch. Nowadays, it is a reminder that there is a market for, and a desire to collect, personal information shared online. And there still is no such thing as a free lunch.

Facebook accounts, Instagram feeds, Starbucks hotspots. These are provided free not out of the goodness of the company's collective heart, but because they profit in other ways. And as U.S. privacy whistleblower Edward Snowden has proven, security agencies have a taste for your online data as well.

The latest battlefield in the war on online privacy is in Canada's airports, where CBC News reports passengers have fed their information to Canada's electronic spy agency hand over fist.

In an exclusive report, CBC claims top secret documents obtained by Snowden show that the free Internet service available at a Canadian airport was used to track wireless devices of those who log in, sometimes for days after the fact.

[ Related: Spy agency reportedly kept tabs on Canadian airport passengers ]

In short, when someone logged on to that Wi-Fi hotspot and fired off a few emails before boarding their flight, they could have shared information with more than just the email’s recipient. Metadata could have also been spread, detailing a trove of information about the habits and activities of the user.

Communications Security Establishment Canada was quick to respond to the report, stating that it is the agency's mandate to "collect foreign signals intelligence to protect Canada and Canadians, and by law, only directs its foreign intelligence activities at foreign entities." Basically, no Canadians were harmed in the collecting of this metadata.

The statement reads:

In order to fulfill this key foreign intelligence role for the country, CSE is legally authorized to collect and analyze metadata. In simple terms, metadata is technical information used to route communications, and not the contents of a communication.

The classified document in question is a technical presentation between specialists exploring mathematical models built on everyday scenarios to identify and locate foreign terrorist threats. The unauthorized disclosure of tradecraft puts our techniques at risk of being less effective when addressing threats to Canada and Canadians.

It is important to note that no Canadian or foreign travellers were tracked. No Canadian communications were, or are, targeted, collected or used. And all CSE activities include measures to protect the privacy of Canadians.

CSE goes on to state that its actions are legal under the National Defence Act. Its "metadata" activities passed inspection in 2011 and are being reviewed again.

According to CBC, the Snowden document suggests CSE's tracking operation was a trial run launching in connection with America's powerful National Security Agency (NSA), and that it has now become fully operational.

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So we have a spy agency using invasive and secretive methods to collect information through a free hotspot to analyze general trends and habits, and flag those who don’t follow the norm. But we are supposed to believe that Canadians are absolved from the process?

Actually, as the CBC reports suggests, that likely doesn’t matter much. Canada is part of a Five Eyes intelligence network – with Britain, Australia, New Zealand and America – that shares security information between partners. Is a “you spy on our citizens, we’ll spy on yours” pact impossible, or even unlikely?

This revelation, coming shortly after confirmation the Canadian Border Security Agency will soon be sharing your personal travel data with other federal agencies and Washington.

If you travel, they’ll know all about you.

Border security isn’t just about checking bags anymore, and we know that process is far from infallible. But are terrorists really logging onto free public hotspots to detail their terror plots on jihad.com? I won’t even do online banking from Starbucks.

At worst, the CSE’s hotspot monitoring is an illegal program that tracks anyone who strays onto an airport Wi-Fi network. At best it is a morally ambiguous program that tracks anyone who strays onto an airport Wi-Fi network, and the angels in charge sift out all information gleaned from Canadian citizens and throw it in the virtual trash.

Should it make you uncomfortable? Yes. Is it necessarily a bad thing? Boy, I hope not. Because there’s nothing we can do about it now. Online privacy is all but obsolete. We're the product now.