BY DUNCAN PIKE
This January 28th is Data Privacy Day, a date marked around the world in support of data privacy and individual control of personal digital information. This year marks the eighth such holiday and the first since whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked a cache of classified documents, revealing the hither-to unknown surveillance capabilities and vast digital reach of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).
Since then the tensions and trade-offs between security, online privacy and digital rights have been a continuous part of the national conversation in the United States. Congressional leaders, intelligence officials, civil society groups, and journalists have been engaged in a sustained debate over the necessity, legality and utility of mass surveillance programs. Two competing bills responding to the revelations are before the U.S. Congress, government oversight boards have completed major reviews of the programs, and on January 17 President Obama, in what was billed as a “major speech”, announced modest changes to activities the NSA undertakes
Snowden has said his main aim was to “trigger [a debate] among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in.” By this measure he has unequivocally succeeded, at least in the United States. Rather less conspicuous has been the corresponding debate in Canada.