[P-51]

Man, I can't believe nobody here caught this:

http://www.countmeout.ca

The Canadian government has bought the software and hardware to collect the data from our census forms from one of the largest American weapons makers: Lockheed Martin! I can't believe it. In this day and age when the Americans have sold out their rights to freedom and civil liberties, our government goes ahead and gives the Americans access to our sensitive information. :angry:

We're all f***ed now.

I can't believe this happened.

Quote:Statistics Canada argues that Lockheed Martin is limited to supplying the Census software and hardware. But computer software is highly technical and complex. We believe it would be entirely possible for Lockheed Martin to plant a "trojan horse" within the Census software, to secretly allow the CIA to tap into Canadian census data. If this seems absurdly paranoid, let us remember that the US government is trying to force creators of encryption privacy software to build in a special tap to allow government access into private citizens' encrypted data--all in the name of the "war on terrorism" . We are also talking about a country whose President, sworn to uphold the law and the Constitution, has admitted to authorizing wiretaps violating the privacy of American citizens. Sorry, Statistics Canada, but we believe your privacy assurances are hollow.

[FociPhil]

holy f***...thats messed!!

[microbunny]

:o wtf...

[2001 ZTS]

Its "probably" not true but who knows.

What I find interesting is 99% of those who are so concerned probably use credit cards, gas cards, points cards, airmile cards etcetera without issue at all.

Far greater a likelyhood of a privacy breach by those hands, a vastly greater volume of information, the information is far less secure and in most cases actually for sale.

[FocusGuy7476]

and whose to blame if that information is used by US; Stats Canada, Lockheed Martin.

[NOS2Go4Me]

You guys might be interested in this. I kinda got on the warpath with this one.

My original text, filled with attitude no less:
To the Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:

I find it deplorable that a Canadian 'subsidiary' of an American defense
contractor would be given the final nod for our 2006 Census.

There's no need for an insult of this magnitude being levelled at
Canadian-grown software houses. NAFTA has been proven time and time
again to be biased in favour of Americans, and I see no need as to why
we need to support a foreign economy that already has our
more-than-eager support.

I would have been heartened and even eager to take part in a survey that
was designed, implemented and conducted by a Canadian-grown company.
Sadly, this isn't the case.

I'd also like some assurances that the database containing this
information that we have all submitted as law-abiding Canadian citizens
will never leave Canadian datacenters. To think that the statistical
information of Canadians is being kept on a US-based server farm is
well... unthinkable.

In closing, I do hope that the Canadian government is not playing a very
dangerous game of 3-card Monte with Canadian citizens' personal data. No
matter who our neighbours are, and no matter the perceived burdens of
our relations... our first and foremost duties should always be to our
fellow Canadians.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.

And the reply followed from a secretary:

Dear Mr. Weichel:

On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to thank you for your e-mail, in which you raised an issue which falls within the portfolio of the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry. The Prime Minister always appreciates receiving correspondence on subjects of importance to Canadians.

Please be assured that the statements you made have been carefully reviewed. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your e-mail to Minister Bernier, so that he too may be made aware of your comments. I am certain that the Minister will give your views every consideration. For more information on the Government's initiatives, you may wish to visit the Prime Minister's Web site, at http://www.pm.gc.ca.

L.A. Lavell
Executive Correspondence Officer
for the Prime Minister's Office

And it was indeed CCed to that minister. Who then emailed me.

Dear Mr.Weichel:

The Minister Responsible for Statistics Canada, the Honourable Maxime
Bernier, has asked me to respond to your email of May 10, 2006.

I would like to assure you that Statistics Canada has taken a number of
important safeguards to protect the privacy and confidentiality of your
Census responses. These safeguards have been independently assessed by
IT security specialists and the entire assessment process overseen by a
Task Force headed by the former Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Denis
Desautels. The task force was clear in their conclusion: "Canadians
can trust that the information gathered during the 2006 Census will be
secure." The entire report is available at http://www.census2006.ca. I would
also like to expand on some of the security safeguards in place for the
2006 Census.

Statistics Canada is completely responsible for every phase of
conducting the 2006 Census. The contract with Lockheed Martin Canada,
IBM Canada and Transcontinental Printing Canada is strictly for the
provision of hardware, software and printing services. No contractor
ever has access to or is in possession of Census responses.

Census information is, at all times, under the complete care and full
control of Statistics Canada employees. In fact, all census databases,
facilities and networks containing confidential data are physically
isolated from any networks outside Statistics Canada. Therefore, even if
a request were ever to be made by an external authority to any
contractor for confidential data, it would be physically impossible for
a contractor to comply, given that they are never in possession of
census responses.

Public Works and Government Services Canada awarded the contract through
an open, transparent, and stringent competitive bidding process
following all the laws and regulations pertaining to procurement.
Statistics Canada has relied on the private sector in the past to
provide equipment and services to conduct a Census in a cost effective
manner, without compromising confidentiality, and the 2006 Census is no
exception.

Census data are a vital source of information for decisions by
governments and private citizens and businesses that affect the daily
lives of Canadians. The data must be complete and accurate for these
purposes. We have put so much emphasis on security and confidentiality
measures regarding contractor provided systems to ensure that Canadians
can complete their Census questionnaires in full confidence of these
measures. It is critical that we all be part of the Canadian family
portrait that is the Census. I urge you to be part of that portrait.

Thank you for your interest in the census.


Ivan P. Fellegi
Chief Statistician of Canada


So... I'm fairly placated. That website was the one that got me writing, but as I revisit it... I'm fairly sure a lot of the "suspicions" are bunk.

[ZTWsquared]

Excellent -- thanks very much for taking the time to communicate with them.

Frankly I'm pleasantly surprised at the tone and content of the responses you got, and although I'm no IT expert the assurances seem to be deserving of a 'thumbs up.'

I feel a lot better about this than I did 10 minutes ago.

NOS2Go4Me,May 18 2006, 09:18 PM Wrote:You guys might be interested in this. I kinda got on the warpath with this one.

My original text, filled with attitude no less:
To the Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada:

I find it deplorable that a Canadian 'subsidiary' of an American defense
contractor would be given the final nod for our 2006 Census.

There's no need for an insult of this magnitude being levelled at
Canadian-grown software houses. NAFTA has been proven time and time
again to be biased in favour of Americans, and I see no need as to why
we need to support a foreign economy that already has our
more-than-eager support.

I would have been heartened and even eager to take part in a survey that
was designed, implemented and conducted by a Canadian-grown company.
Sadly, this isn't the case.

I'd also like some assurances that the database containing this
information that we have all submitted as law-abiding Canadian citizens
will never leave Canadian datacenters. To think that the statistical
information of Canadians is being kept on a US-based server farm is
well... unthinkable.

In closing, I do hope that the Canadian government is not playing a very
dangerous game of 3-card Monte with Canadian citizens' personal data. No
matter who our neighbours are, and no matter the perceived burdens of
our relations... our first and foremost duties should always be to our
fellow Canadians.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.

And the reply followed from a secretary:

Dear Mr. Weichel:

On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to thank you for your e-mail, in which you raised an issue which falls within the portfolio of the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry. The Prime Minister always appreciates receiving correspondence on subjects of importance to Canadians.

Please be assured that the statements you made have been carefully reviewed. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your e-mail to Minister Bernier, so that he too may be made aware of your comments. I am certain that the Minister will give your views every consideration. For more information on the Government's initiatives, you may wish to visit the Prime Minister's Web site, at http://www.pm.gc.ca.

L.A. Lavell
Executive Correspondence Officer
for the Prime Minister's Office

And it was indeed CCed to that minister. Who then emailed me.

Dear Mr.Weichel:

The Minister Responsible for Statistics Canada, the Honourable Maxime
Bernier, has asked me to respond to your email of May 10, 2006.

I would like to assure you that Statistics Canada has taken a number of
important safeguards to protect the privacy and confidentiality of your
Census responses.  These safeguards have been independently assessed by
IT security specialists and the entire assessment process overseen by a
Task Force headed by the former Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Denis
Desautels.  The task force was clear in their conclusion:  "Canadians
can trust that the information gathered during the 2006 Census will be
secure."  The entire report is available at http://www.census2006.ca.  I would
also like to expand on some of the security safeguards in place for the
2006 Census.

Statistics Canada is completely responsible for every phase of
conducting the 2006 Census.  The contract with Lockheed Martin Canada,
IBM Canada and Transcontinental Printing Canada is strictly for the
provision of hardware, software and printing services.  No contractor
ever has access to or is in possession of Census responses.

Census information is, at all times, under the complete care and full
control of Statistics Canada employees.  In fact, all census databases,
facilities and networks containing confidential data are physically
isolated from any networks outside Statistics Canada. Therefore, even if
a request were ever to be made by an external authority to any
contractor for confidential data, it would be physically impossible for
a contractor to comply, given that they are never in possession of
census responses.

Public Works and Government Services Canada awarded the contract through
an open, transparent, and stringent competitive bidding process
following all the laws and regulations pertaining to procurement.
Statistics Canada has relied on the private sector in the past to
provide equipment and services to conduct a Census in a cost effective
manner, without compromising confidentiality, and the 2006 Census is no
exception.

Census data are a vital source of information for decisions by
governments and private citizens and businesses that affect the daily
lives of Canadians.  The data must be complete and accurate for these
purposes.  We have put so much emphasis on security and confidentiality
measures regarding contractor provided systems to ensure that Canadians
can complete their Census questionnaires in full confidence of these
measures. It is critical that we all be part of the Canadian family
portrait that is the Census.  I urge you to be part of that portrait.

Thank you for your interest in the census.


Ivan P. Fellegi
Chief Statistician of Canada


So... I'm fairly placated. That website was the one that got me writing, but as I revisit it... I'm fairly sure a lot of the "suspicions" are bunk.
[right][snapback]188439[/snapback][/right]

[habmann]

I'm actually quite surprised by the response you got. It almost seems like a thoughtful and considerate response, which is odd coming from the government. Maybe putting the conservatives in office wasn't such a bad thing.

[P-51]

I'm more stunned by the speed than anything.

I would tend to think that these were all "Canned" responses. I'm sure you're not the first to email them on this. However, they are quite well put together. It's not the usual "Thank you for your concerns, trust us everything is fine. Now get back to work so you can pay your taxes."

Andrew, I know data is harvested from many sources. But I really can't do anything about that. I do use only CC, and no other data collection cards. I shred everything with my name on it. Regardless, the issue is, the Canadian government should take GREAT pains to safeguard the security of Canadians against the US government which is in the process of breaching all American privacy laws, international human rights laws, and daily conduct which amounts to war crimes.

[P-51]

Just had a tinfoil hat thought...

The data is being collected by HARDWARE built by LM. Do we have any assurance that the data isn't being transmitted outside the building by wireless communications?

Edit: AND! Anybody who submitted their info from the internet. What are the odds that when you push the send button, that info isn't redirected somewhere else.

These statements that the network is "physically separated" from the internet are pretty weak.

[darkpuppet]

that's a pretty good response from the government... I honestly don't think that the data is in THAT big of a deal. I'm glad it wasn't put in the hands of the banks :P

But to be honest, there's really not much in the census that I'm worried about being leaked out. There are so many ways for people to get personal information on you, and so many ways that are more convenient, that you can't spend your whole life worrying about it.

Even shredding your documents isn't a foolproof way of protecting your identity.. For every measure you take to protect your personal information, there are people out there who have found a way around it....

People don't realize how easy it is to get information on people. With a simple IP address, I can often times find out where a person works, their name, and sometimes even their employee serial number.

Now, the census being farmed out to lockhead.. that's very interesting indeed. But you'd be surprised at what some companies do to get contracts.. Lockhead martin has made it's living out of dealing with government contracts, so I think it's actually a pretty good choice.

IBM would have been a good choice too as they have some of the tightest security and privacy standards I know of....

[naz]

i read somewhere that the majority of identity theft is still from physical records.. (ie Hdds put on the curb without being physically destroyed, tax returns thrown out without being shredded etc)

there is really no way your 'personally identified information' is truely secure.. your bureau info, including your ssn (or whatever canada uses, sin?) is sold frequently to third parties, all your name and address info that is publically available is compiled and stored by companies who specialize in skip tracing (collections). each time you scan your freaking grocery store discount card your purchase history that is associated with you is being logged somewhere. shoot whenever you keep your cell on someone somewhere knows exactly where you are... if i was a crook.. i'd bust into a doctors office or a dentists office.. way less secure than a bank or other financial institiuion, probably just as much info there to steal.

personally.. i opt out of allowing my bureau records to be sold to third parties (and i'm thinking of putting a permanent freeze on my bureau records) i make sure i have physical possession of all finance/insurance type correspondence, i check the tradelines in my bureau report at least semi annually, what else can you really do other than that?

[Kelowna_Focus]

We're screwed now, wasn't there anyone else they could get that software from? Blows my freaking mind.