OPC Calls For Greater Oversight Of Canadian Intelligence Community

On January 28, 2014, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) tabled a special report to Parliament on privacy oversight for Canada's intelligence-gathering agencies. Titled "Canadian Checks and Controls: Reinforcing Privacy Protection and Oversight for the Canadian Intelligence Community in an Era of Cyber-Surveillance," the special report contains a mature and measured analysis of the governance issues in balancing privacy and intelligence gathering for national security.

The OPC makes recommendations in three areas. These recommendations include:

1. Greater Transparency. Augment existing review and reporting mechanisms through:

• Reporting statistics annually on instances in which the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) assists other Canadian federal agencies when it receives requests for interception, as well as tabling annual reports by CSEC to Parliament.