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November 23, 2007 The Globe and Mail is reporting today that: "Ottawa has belatedly joined the airline industry in opposing U.S. plans to obtain passenger lists from Canadian flights headed for holiday sun destinations (through their Secure Flight program). Canada is concerned about privacy issues related to turning over personal information, federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon said yesterday after Ottawa filed its objections to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration." The Canadian government said in its submission to Washington that, "The protection of the privacy of travellers is of critical concern. The concept of consent is central to Canadian privacy standards." Earlier reports indicated that the government would not kick up a fuss. After all, privacy is not typically a top priority when it comes to security agreements with the United States. "For the past few years, I have also been very concerned about the incremental erosion of privacy rights in the post-9/11 national security environment," wrote Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart in her annual report to Parliament this year. For instance, "we question the extensive use of travel-related programs such as the no-fly list... We also remain worried about the increased potential for data breaches stemming from the ever-bigger streams of personal information crossing borders without the appropriate and necessary protections in place." Despite the problems with Transport Canada's Passenger Protect no-fly list (an SPP initiative), Ottawa's letter protesting the U.S. Secure Flight program is a positive sign that there are limits to the abuse of privacy rights. According to a Transport Canada news release, the government is "also concerned that the proposed Secure Flight program could use passenger information for vetting against watch lists of individuals, beyond those who pose a threat to aviation security." According to the Globe article today, the Air Transport Association of Canada, which represents airlines in Canada, argued in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security that the Secure Flight program would contravene Canada's Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act, which "limits the ability of Canadians from complying with measures enacted by foreign governments that infringe on Canadian sovereignty."
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