TORONTO – Rogers received close to 175,000 requests for customer data from federal agencies in 2013, the company disclosed Thursday in its first ever Transparency Report.
As Cartt.ca reported, a coalition of Canadian academics and consumer groups asked the country’s biggest telecommunications service providers in January to reveal the extent to which they pass on their customers’ private information to government agencies when asked. Sixteen different telcos were asked to respond or commit to responding by March 3, 2014.
Rogers said in the report that it fully complies with Canadian privacy law and actively safeguards its customers’ information. At the same time, however, it is compelled by law to respond to warrants and court orders from law enforcement agencies and government departments who are authorized to request information to enforce laws. Rogers received requests from the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, Canada Revenue Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and provincial and municipal agencies like police forces and coroners.
“About half of the requests we receive are to confirm a customer’s name and address, which we respond to so police do not issue a warrant to the wrong person”, reads the report’s introduction, signed by chief privacy officer Ken Engelhart. “Otherwise, we only provide customer information when forced by law or in emergencies after the request has been thoroughly vetted. If we consider an order to be too broad, we push back and, if necessary, go to court to oppose the request.”
The report says that Rogers received a total of 174,917 requests for customer information, which it broke down as follows: 87,856 requests for customer name/address checks; 74,415 for court order/warrant; 2,556 for government requirement letter (compelled to provide under a federal/provincial law); 9,339 emergency requests from police in life threatening situations; 711 child sexual exploitation emergency assistance requests; and 40 court orders to comply with an international Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request.
The report did not, however, specify how often the requests were granted.
Independent ISP TekSavvy Solutions also prepared a Transparency Report, noting that in 2012 and 2013, it received 52 requests from government agencies about its customers’ usage of communications devices and services. The report says that all of these requests were restricted to correlating Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses with subscriber name and information, and that all of them were received from law enforcement agencies.
Within the total, TekSavvy said that it made 17 disclosures (33%) pursuant to lawful authority related to criminal investigations, and denied the remaining 35 (67%).
When contacted by Cartt.ca, Telus said it is preparing a transparency report and plans to issue it this summer. A spokesperson reiterated that the company only provides confidential customer information to third parties pursuant to valid court orders or other applicable law, and that it contests orders if it believes they "overreach".
Bell responded to Cartt.ca, but did not specify whether it would issue a transparency report. “Bell releases information to law enforcement agencies only when required by law and always in compliance with federal privacy and CRTC regulations”, reads the spokesperson's emailed response.
– Lesley Hunter
