Resumen de Surfi ng the Surveillance Wave: Online Privacy, Freedom of Expression and the Th reat of National Security
Th is article traces the emergence of section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a response to privacy breaches resulting from internet government surveillance. Just as signifi cant privacy rights have been read into sections 7 and 8 of the Charter, the author argues that section 2(b) can likewise be viewed through a privacy lens, particularly in the online context. The author fi rst examines the concept of privacy, addressing defi nitional problems and the ways in which privacy has been located in, and excluded from, the Charter. Next, he focuses on aspects of section 2(b): the chilling eff ects of surveillance, freedom of thought and the pinpointing by Canadian courts of connections between privacy and expression. The article concludes with a review of on going constitutional challenges which embrace a privacy-centric approach to section 2(b) in attacking state surveillance powers created by Canada’s 2001 and 2015 anti-terrorism statutes.
