Some things I have been able to dig up.<p>In his final report to Parliament, commissioner Robert Decary says some of the spying at Communications Security Establishment Canada may have affected Canadians in the past year. However, thanks to poor record-keeping, Mr. Decary – a retired judge who has been the agency’s independent watchdog since 2010 – said he can’t be sure.[1]<p>CSEC is forbidden from intentionally collecting or analyzing information from Canadian citizens in Canada or abroad. However, the National Defence Act allows the defence minister to give CSEC written ministerial authorization to intercept private communications unintentionally while collecting foreign-signals intelligence.[1]<p>Doesn't this contradict with the Canadian Privacy Act?<p>Yet, while Mr. Binney compliments the surveillance acumen of Communications Security Establishment Canada, he also urged the Canadian public to scrutinize CSEC – especially given its long-standing close ties to the NSA. “They have integrated reps,” he said, referring to how the agencies swap personnel. He pointed out that they also share technology, such as a very powerful, recently revealed Internet-surveillance tool, code-named “XKeyscore.” “CSEC does not direct its activities at Canadians and is prohibited by law from doing so,” its chief, John Forster, said in a rare public statement. Yet, records recently obtained by The Globe show that CSEC has been developing its own secretive programs to “incidentally” monitor at least some Canadian telecommunications traffic.[2]<p>Some of Mr. Snowden’s leaks speak to the NSA’s close relationship with CSEC – suggesting, for example, that the two agencies teamed up to spy on foreign diplomats at a 2009 G20 meeting in London, and may have also been in cahoots to install a back door to spy on encrypted messages on the Internet in 2006.[2]<p>At the time, Canada’s Communications Security Establishment ran the standards process for the international organization, but classified documents describe how ultimately the N.S.A. seized control. “After some behind-the-scenes finessing with the head of the Canadian national delegation and with C.S.E., the stage was set for N.S.A. to submit a rewrite of the draft,” the memo notes. “Eventually, N.S.A. became the sole editor.”[3]<p>So CSEC was being coerced by NSA and completely gave up control. Although I can respect the apparent "restraint" Canadian government has, but clearly system can be abused and will stay way under the radar compared to NSA and GHCQ.
[1]<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/watchdog-says-spy-agency-might-have-illegally-eavesdropped-on-canadians/article13913875/" rel="nofollow">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/watchdog-says-s...</a>
[2]<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/beware-of-data-spying-former-nsa-official-warns-canadians/article14430225/" rel="nofollow">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/beware-of-data-spy...</a>
[3]<a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/government-announce" rel="nofollow">http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/government-announce</a>