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Mobile users deserve remedy says rights advocates suing feds for spying

By The Canadian Press  / globalpost
Published on April 1, 2014

VANCOUVER – Civil rights advocates are calling for payments or other remedies for anyone who has used a laptop, cellphone, smartphone or tablet in Canada over the past 13 years.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Canada’s national electronic spy agency on behalf of anyone who used a wireless device in the country since 2001.

The suit targets Communications Security Establishment Canada, or CSEC, which the association claims has been violating the constitutional rights of millions of Canadians.

The association says money or other tangible fixes are the remedy if it proves in court that laws allowing the agency to collect Canadians’ private conversations should be struck down.

The association filed a primary lawsuit in October arguing CSEC has been violating the charter rights of Canadians by reading emails, text messages and listening to calls with people outside Canada.

Association President Lindsay Lyster says that Canadians put misplaced trust in the government, believing they could communicate without being spied upon.

CIVIL LIBERTIES CAN’T PROTECT THEMSELVES