Wiretap law backlash organised by Liberal staffer

Canadian politician Victor Toews has been threatened with violence and had private details exposed by hackers for his support of a controversial lawful access bill in that country.

Toews had introduced the wide-ranging Bill C-30 which lets the Canadian Government ask ISPs for mandatory usage information about customers, and includes a gag order provision that stops service providers from informing customers about the surveillance.

The bill also allows the government to request information about emails and surfing habits on a voluntary basis. 

Toews became the subject of an information campaign known as Vikileaks in which a now disabled Twitter account disseminated personal information about the minister. 

Hacktivist collective Anonymous also leaked the name of his common law partner, said to be his mistress during his marriage, when he allegedly conceived a child with her.

The Vikileaks campaign was organised by Adam Carroll, a staffer for the opposition Liberal party. 

One of the most worrying aspects of the C-30 legislation for privacy advocates was the ability for the government to specify the nature of surveillance equipment used by an ISP, which theoretically gives it total visibility into the service provider's network.

The Bill has been sent to the Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee, before reaching its second reading.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com