Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Canada, U.S. launch talks on data-sharing deal

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Mar, 2022 10:13 AM
  • Canada, U.S. launch talks on data-sharing deal

WASHINGTON - Canada and the United States have started talking about ways to make it easier for law enforcement officials in either country to navigate stringent privacy laws when investigating criminal activity.

The two countries have started working towards an agreement that would compel internet service providers to hand over private data when it's deemed to be part of an investigation.

The framework for the talks is the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, or CLOUD, passed in the U.S. in 2018 in an effort to ease access to evidence while protecting civil liberties.

Today's announcement is part of a cross-border crime forum taking place this week in the U.S. capital with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Justice Minister David Lametti.

It's the first meeting of the forum in a decade, resurrected by the Canada-U.S. "road map" for bilateral co-operation agreed to last February by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland says a new data-sharing deal would enhance public safety and security while protecting privacy and civil liberties in both countries.

"Such an agreement, if finalized and approved, would pave the way for more efficient cross-border disclosures of data between the United States and Canada so that our governments can more effectively fight serious crime, including terrorism," Garland said in a statement.

"By increasing the effectiveness of investigations and prosecutions of serious crime ... we seek to enhance the safety and security of citizens on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border."

Mendicino and Lametti took part in the talks along with Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

A summary of the meeting says they discussed working together to defend against ransomware attacks and to "freeze and seize" Russian assets as part of North America's economic countermeasures against Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign policy experts have been warning for weeks that U.S. efforts to sanction Russia would likely lead to a ramp-up in foreign cyberattacks on American infrastructure, a possibility Biden himself flagged publicly on Monday.

"My administration has issued renewed warnings that, based on evolving intelligence, Russia may be planning a cyberattack against us," Biden told business leaders.

"The magnitude of Russia's cyber capacity is fairly consequential, and it's coming."

The four leaders also talked about efforts to push back against human trafficking and smuggling across the Canada-U.S. border, as well as plans to target the flow of illegal guns between the two countries.

MORE National ARTICLES

Man sentenced to 10 years in death of B.C. woman

Man sentenced to 10 years in death of B.C. woman
An agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown counsel Jay Fogel said Loreto was killed on March 17, 2021, before her burned body was found in Burnaby's Greentree Village Park the next day.

Man sentenced to 10 years in death of B.C. woman

259 COVID19 cases for Tuesday

259 COVID19 cases for Tuesday
There are 254 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 and 48 are in intensive care. In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,974.

259 COVID19 cases for Tuesday

Liberal-NDP deal buys time for next Tory leader

Liberal-NDP deal buys time for next Tory leader
With the Conservatives set to pick their new leader Sept. 10, the party would have more than two years to prepare to face Canadians in a general election, assuming the Liberal-NDP deal holds.

Liberal-NDP deal buys time for next Tory leader

Canada, allies face 'irrationality' of Putin: Joly

Canada, allies face 'irrationality' of Putin: Joly
Trudeau will kick off a whirlwind trip with an address to the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, where he will stress the importance of both continents working together to defend democracy in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Canada, allies face 'irrationality' of Putin: Joly

Groups seek Alaskan protection for B.C. salmon

Groups seek Alaskan protection for B.C. salmon
The society and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust commissioned the report, which says only 110,000 sockeye were commercially harvested in all of B.C. in 2021, and the coalition questions why the Pacific Salmon Treaty is failing to address issues of interception and overfishing.

Groups seek Alaskan protection for B.C. salmon

Liberals, New Democrats reach agreement

Liberals, New Democrats reach agreement
The deal says the NDP will neither move nor vote for a motion of non-confidence that could topple the Liberals during the term of the arrangement. The Liberals and NDP will meet regularly, and they agree to identify priority bills to move swiftly through the House of Commons.

Liberals, New Democrats reach agreement