Canadian spy agency used airport WiFi to track travelers
Questionable data collection isn't just for the US and Britain -- according to CBC News, Canada's own spy agency may have been tracking its citizens illegally too. Documents allegedly provided by Edward Snowden show that Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) collected metadata from thousands of Canadian travelers by tapping into a major airport's free WiFi service. In addition to revealing that the data was collected over a two-week period, the report shows that CSEC was able to use the metadata to digitally follow travelers as their devices passed through other WiFi hotspots in both Canada and the US.
CSEC claims that "no Canadian or foreign travelers' movements were 'tracked,'" which technically, might be correct. While the documents explained how the data was collected and what it can be used for, the report doesn't mention any subjects by name. In fact, the documents say the operation was just a test -- a trial run for an advanced tracking program CSEC is developing with the help of the NSA. Although its not clear how much access the NSA will have to the software once it's completed, its motives for supporting the project seem clear. After all, according to the US judicial system, collecting cell phone metadata is completely legal down here.
[Image credit: Charleston's TheDigital, Flickr]
