Is national security legislation an insecurity for Canadians?

OTTAWA— The Liberals’ new national security legislation would confirm the Communications Security Establishment’s power to collect “publicly available” information about Canadians.

New language in Bill C-59 outlines the CSE’s ability to obtain and analyze any information already in the public realm, including aggregate information that relates to Canadians.

The spy agency is strictly prohibited from targeting Canadians with its sophisticated techniques and tools.

But a Department of Justice analysis of C-59, released Monday, suggests that “general prohibition” does not prevent the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) from using what’s available online or purchased from data companies.

“Considering the information about individuals that can be aggre- gated, and the things that can be learned from such aggregations using modern technologies and then offered for sale by data-brokers, CSE’s acquisition and use of such information . . . has the potential to affect privacy interests protected by section 8 of the Charter,” the analysis read.

Senior CSE officials, who have been briefing media about C-59 on condition they not be named, told the Star Tuesday the powers are not new.

The CSE believes they’ve been able to collect and analyze publicly available information for some time, and officials do not believe the practice violated the laws.

Christopher Parsons, a researcher at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, worries information lawfully collected by the CSE may be exploited by other federal law enforcement agencies.

The CSE may collect information for one reason, Parsons said, but that information could be sought by CSIS or the RCMP for another: to help build a case against suspects, for instance.

But officials said the CSE would not be able to use the “publicly available” provision to collect information, such as unprotected social media posts on Twitter.

That would violate CSE’s restriction from targeting Canadians and would be illegal both under the current law and C-59.