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British Columbia Acts Against Patriot Act

Posted by timothy on from the let's-trade-wheat-and-dollars-but-not-that-stuff dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to the CBC, the province of British Columbia will guard against the Patriot Act. This affects U.S.-owned companies operating in BC. Canadian subsidiaries in BC will be prohibited from giving certain information to the U.S. government."

26 comments

  1. My blog by trajano · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I actually blogged about this in my blog

    I was watching CBC news just now and they were talking about B.C. resident's medical records at risk of being exposed to other parties because of the U.S. Patriot Act because maintenance of such data was outsourced to the U.S., the medical chief of B.C. also had the gall to say its not a problem because of outsourcing (yah right, the more exact problem is cheapskates running the group who actually want to reap more profits for themselves instead of providing a better service). The U.S. has already encountered this problem from outsourcing medical transcription data to Pakistan.

    Its true that outsourcing does save money, but you are putting your data at risk when bringing it outside your country. Even if the other country would have compatible laws on privacy as yours, it does not mean they cannot change them at whim (e.g. the Patriot Act by Bush's government). Governments should keep their records secure within its borders, any outsourcing of such data is inviting a breach of trust against the public. Private companies who outsource their data should have the right to be sued by the public (we may already have that) if their private information is not held properly, I know we have laws saying that corporate data on people should not be shared outside the corporation without written consent by the party involved.

    If I had the power (i.e., prime minister, mayor, etc), I would ban outsourcing of work done by government agencies which involves private data or tools that manipulate such data. I include manipulation (which includes application development and transcriptions) because other countries might not have laws or standards to maintain the same level that we require as a minimum by our standards. And even if they did, like the Patriot Act, it can change at whim.

    I would probably still outsource some of the reference data and tools such as postal code database maintenance, lists of parks and maps of Canada to other countries since its public information that won't affect anyone directly, though it still needs to be QAed over here. That would at least reduce our costs and menial tasks so we can work on more important things like enjoying life and having fun.
    --
    Archie - CIO-for-hire :-)
    1. Re:My blog by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Impressively thought out..

      Im serious about this request. Have you talked to any congressman/woman about making a bill for this? Having jobs "stay in the US" and "Who has YOUR medical information" could clich a bill quite easy. Have someone like 20/20 or DateLine run that second blurp as a story.

      --
    2. Re:My blog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      >Have you talked to any congressman/woman about making a bill for this?

      I think he's thought of it, but being Canadian and all he probably just doesn't care ;)

    3. Re:My blog by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 5, Insightful
      because of the U.S. Patriot Act
      It's not the "U.S. Patriot" Act (nor is it just the "Patriot" Act, as the blurb states); it's the "USAPATRIOT" Act.
      Please use the full name.
      The "USAPATRIOT" Act has nothing to do with patriotism, so calling it the "Patriot Act" or "U.S. Patriot Act" is misleading.
      Personally, I pronounce it "the you sap at riot act" to avoid confusion.
      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    4. Re:My blog by scrytch · · Score: 1

      Another plus of calling it USAPATRIOT is it has that jargon-laden bureaucratic code name feel that evokes feelings of cold and impersonal menace. Like COINTELPRO.

      I love the way you pronounce it though :)

      Just for the edification of the readers, what torturous phrase does the acronym expand to? I roughly know the the PATRIOT (PAT RIOT?) part, but I don't know if USA expands to something other than the obvious.

      --
      I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
    5. Re:My blog by Alsee · · Score: 1

      "the you sap at riot act"

      Hmmm... sapping away at roiting sounds like a good thing. I sure hope my congressmen voted for it :D

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    6. Re:My blog by trajano · · Score: 1

      Actually its more like being in Toronto, it does not affect me as of yet. :D (j/k) The good news is that there are provisions being made now to rectify the situation.

      The way I voice my opinion on this is by voting for the Greenparty of Canada. Hopefully they'd win one day and get rid of these highly commercialized parties.

      --
      Archie - CIO-for-hire :-)
    7. Re:My blog by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      I've said it before, and I'll say it again, any bill that has an acronym that produces one or more English words should instantly be thrown out, as it's obviously without merit. Why else would they go to the trouble of coming up with such an acronym?

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    8. Re:My blog by BandwidthHog · · Score: 1

      Just thought I'd offer up my contribution to the anti-USAPATRIOT Act meme:

      [.sig enclosed]

      --

      Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
  2. I am so glad to hear this! by FFFish · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I had no idea that my medical and financial records might be accessible to the US spy agencies. There's nothing I particularly need to hide from anyone, but, dammit, I value my rights, and my right to privacy is a biggie.

    I do so wish the USA would go back inside its own borders and leave the rest of us alone.

    --

    --
    Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
    1. Re:I am so glad to hear this! by Bob_Robertson · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I do so wish the USA would go back inside its own borders and leave the rest of us alone.

      Heck, I live in the US and feel exactly the same way.

      I wish the US government would go back inside its "Ten Mile Square" own borders and leave the rest of us alone.

      The GPL isn't a cancer, GOVERNMENT is.

      Bob-

      --
      The Ludwig von Mises Institute. The reasoning individuals economics
    2. Re:I am so glad to hear this! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where'd the Algerians with the explosives come from? Right.... Police yourselves or have it done for you. At least you guys have it pretty good. Run yourselves a little thought experiment. Pretend it's 2000 years ago, and Canada isn't a country next to US of A. But a country of proportionate power next to Rome. Or how about Mongolia? Yeah. Thanks for being whining little bitches. Now how about you shut the fuck up.

    3. Re:I am so glad to hear this! by tabrnaker · · Score: 1

      umm, didn't you let them into your own country? It's not like they magickly teleported in from canada. I love it how (usually the us govt) people blame canada just because that was the starting point. Tell me, do you blame the ocean when people come in by boat. You better tell those whales to keep a better watch over who they're letting cross their waters. Damn aquatic sea life, their the reason all those drugs get through. On a side note, about the drugs issue. That one is the funniest. The states always trying to push other countries around because their drugs are coming into the states. Haha, it's just too funny. You see, if the US citizens weren't a big bunch of addicts then those drugs wouldn't need to come in. Besides, we used to protect our borders, from the States! You do remember history right? We thought you guys grew up, and we really don't have much to fear because we don't go around pissing off EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY out there. haha, must stop laughing, i know it'll just piss you off. Come on little skinner rat. :)

  3. Meanwhile, Back In Washington D.C.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...Bush and Cheney are incensed that a 'suburb' of the USA would dare to snub him. Bush orders Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz to draw up plans to invade and occupy Canada with US Border Patrol forces.

    President Bush, in a press conference this afternoon remarked, "These are highly-trained men & women, fully capable of ousting an evil elected official. Our forces have been pre-positioned, waiting for wor d to strike. That time is now. Hear me and hear me well, Paul Martin, your days of cool-headedness and reasoned decision-making are at an end."

  4. Residents of Vancouver (and GVRD) by Screaming+Lunatic · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Vaughn Palmer has been covering this issue extensively on Voice of BC. He interviewed the privacy commissioner a couple weeks ago. The Vancouver Sun, The Province, Global TV, BCTV, CityTV, and even the Georgia Straight have pretty much ignored this issue. I highly recommend watching VoBC. It's live on Wednesdays at 8PM, repeats on Saturdays and Sundays.

    I'm still not convinced that the legislation the the government intends to pass in BC can overrule the Patriot Act. The fact that Geoff Plant, the BC Attorney General, is tyring minimize the perceived risk is a complete and utter joke.

    1. Re:Residents of Vancouver (and GVRD) by DeepHurtn! · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I'm still not convinced that the legislation the the government intends to pass in BC can overrule the Patriot Act.

      Neither am I. There's a big problem with Plant's logic -- he keeps on asserting that local BC laws will trump US laws when these companies are doing business in BC. But if he is wrong there is no way of knowing it, because if he is wrong then the gagging powers of the Act will also be in effect -- so that the companies that have given up our private information will never tell anyone that they ever have. Plant spoke about punishing companies that don't comply with BC laws -- but the BC government will never even know that the BC laws were violated!

      The only way to ensure this doesn't happen is to NOT OUTSOURCE OUR PRIVATE INFORMATION TO US COMPANIES. Sorry to say, but they can't be trusted.

  5. Two hands by phorm · · Score: 4, Interesting

    On one hand, it shows that the government is aware of the privacy risk. It also shows that they're willing to stand up the some of the US pressure on this issue and overrule the "terrorism" buzzword.

    On the other hand, past shows that many such bills may be passed for good publicity, but when it comes to actually enforcing/using them it just doesn't happen.

    So basically, it's going to be a case of wait-and-see... as to whether this law is strong enough to actually do something against the issue of sovereignty between mingled economies and local privacy... and as to whether or not the government is strong enough to actually enforce the laws if/when they're broken.

    As a citizen of BC, Canada... I consider it at least a step in the right direction. I wish it would get more publicity so that at the least it could notify the Canadian people of the risks to our privacy due to US corporate co-mingling.

  6. If I were canadian, i'd be ticked. by Fished · · Score: 0, Troll

    Doesn't the government of B.C. have something better to do that worry about US laws? Doesn't this just demonstrate the degree to which America has gained hegemony over most of the world? I mean, when the government of a free province of a separate, free country has nothing better to do than pass laws opposing our laws, I'd say that they're pretty well acknowledging that they've become U.S. Centric.

    --
    "He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
    1. Re:If I were canadian, i'd be ticked. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      It just shows how bad the Patriot Act is. If Pakistan would make a law tomorrow requesting all companies to register copies of all data they process with the government, you can bet US will pass a measure opposing that to prevent US companies from sending the data there anyway (cause we all know how privacy-minded our good ol' US corps are). Of course we'd only do it to defuse the public pressure.

      Canada is just reacting to the same scenario.

  7. Where Is The "Beef"? by Babbster · · Score: 1
    As I'm looking through the link in the article and links other people are putting up in this discussion, I can't find a damn thing about WHAT information BC is concerned about, WHAT US agencies have requested this information so far, or how the Patriot Act interacts with HIPAA since people are bringing up the potential of their medical information being revealed.

    In short, this is one of the worst blurbs on Slashdot so far, seemingly intended to be yet another shot at the Patriot Act, a law which is misunderstood by many and not read at all by most. Yet, this shot includes no real information at all. Is someone afraid that this Slashdot discussion will be subpoenaed?

    1. Re:Where Is The "Beef"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think of the data as the full HMO records for about four million people.

      Privacy activists would just as well not have that info be available (at a beckon) to the federal government of another country.

      I'm unfamiliar with the HIPAA and am not about to scan through it for a throwaway Slashdot post, but I suspect that since the records in question are about Canadians (non-resident aliens, in legalese) rather than Americans, it would not apply.

  8. USAPATRIOT not Patriot. by Stephen+Samuel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If I had the points I would have modded the parent insightful not funny. How we name things does taint the way that we think of them.
    It's a really bad idea to link patriotism with ratting out your neighbour, ignoring civil rights and secretly jailing people.

    --
    Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
  9. The Full Name by superyooser · · Score: 2, Informative
    Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Trrorism

    Text of H.R.3162

  10. Fixed by trajano · · Score: 1

    I have updated my blog to reflect your comments. Thx.

    --
    Archie - CIO-for-hire :-)
  11. Re: Updated Blog by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1

    Yay!
    You're welcome.

    --
    Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
  12. Thank God by michaelzhao · · Score: 1

    Thank God I'm a Canadian Citizen living in the US. It nice to hear I can always go back to Canada.