Canada’s Bill S-7 Fails to Protect Travellers’ Personal Privacy: Civil Rights Group

Canada’s Bill S-7 Fails to Protect Travellers’ Personal Privacy: Civil Rights Group
A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) patch is seen on a CBSA officer’s uniform in Calgary, Alberta, on Aug. 1, 2019. Jeff Mcintosh/The Canadian Press
Andrew Chen
Updated:

A new Senate bill that would allow Canadian border agents to examine contents stored on travellers’ personal digital devices if an officer has “reasonable general concern” sets a low standard that fails to protect individual privacy, a civil rights group says.

Bill S-7, the Liberal government’s proposed legislation that seeks to amend the Customs Act and the Preclearance Act, doesn’t provide a clear definition as to what constitutes a “reasonable general concern.”