CANADA’S PRIVACY WATCHDOG ON ALERT

O T TAWA • Expressing “significant concerns” about reports canadians may have had their global telephone and Internet use monitored by spy agencies without their knowledge, canada’s privacy watchdog says it will be digging for more information.

The world learned last week the u.S. government had been conducting a secret surveillance program, called Prism, that collected people’s telephone records and electronic communications such as emails and documents around the world.

While u.S. officials say individual phone calls and emails were not read, it appears Prism was analyzing “metadata” — that is, it looked at whom individuals were contacting, when and from where, in an effort to discover patterns of communication that might indicate suspicious activity.

Many observers fear canadians were caught up in Prism’s data gathering.

defence Minister Peter Mackay authorized canada’s super-secret communications Security establishment (cSe) to conduct its own “metadata” surveillance program in November 2011, the Globe & Mail reported Monday.

A spokesman for Jennifer Stoddart, the federal privacy commissioner, said she is concerned about the purported canadian surveillance program and plans to investigate further.

“When it comes to the cSe’s metadata program, we know very little specific information at this point, but we want to find out more,” her spokesman, Scott Hutchinson, said in an email.

“The cSe has a dedicated oversight body in the form of the Office of the commissioner of the cSe. Our office plans to consult the Office of the commissioner of the cSe to gain fur-