The Canadian government wants to spy on us

Warning: Tech rant coming. But then I'm on TV. So it's not all bad.

Perhaps I'm overstating things in the headline, but not by much. It turns out the U.S. isn't the only place on the planet with a ridiculously oddball political landscape. Despite our reputation as mild-mannered hosers, Canadians can make political headlines, too.

To wit, our minority Conservative government, headed by none other than Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is introducing two bills that would greatly expand the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate citizens' online activities (background story here.) For the record, the bills are known as the Investigative Power for the 21st Century Act and the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act. Ooh, big words, I know. But what do they mean?

Simple: If these bills are passed, Internet service providers (ISPs) would be compelled to track and store information on our online activities. Send an e-mail, do a Google search, Skype your ex...your ISP will know, and they'll be forced, by law, the store it all in a database.

Part 2 is even more fun: Law enforcement agencies would be able to tap into this personal data without a warrant.

Now, don't get me wrong. Cops have been screaming for years that they need better tools to go after cybercriminals. They need more powerful, accelerated means of going after child pornographers, identity thieves and other freaks of the modern age. I get that, and I'll do everything in my power to support their quest to keep us safe.

But these bills, as currently structured, turn ISPs into proxies and open up massive privacy holes. I'm not so naive as to believe that ISPs don't already have this capability. Do anything online and you leave a footprint that is easily trackable by the dumbest of the dumb. But if this becomes law, ISPs will now be compelled to keep much richer datasets on our activities. And cops won't need a warrant to pore through the results. Due diligence much? Not anymore.

More ominously, do you really think your ISP - with outsourced tech support in Bangladesh - will keep a lid on your personal data? Do you think no-warrant access to every last bit about your online life is a good idea? My take: it'll open up a Pandora's Box, and it's a road we don't necessarily want to go down.

Want to improve law enforcement's ability to catch bad guys? Don't give them new, Draconian legislation. Instead, give them money and resources so they can hire and train the best of the best and give them the best technology humankind can buy. There's nothing in the current laws of the land that keeps them from kicking some cybercriminal butt.

Bills much like these two are nothing new. This is the fourth kick at the can in recent years, and they've died on the docket every time before. If Canadians are lucky, they'll die this time, too.

I did a live interview with CTV News Channel's Dan Matheson this afternoon, and the video can be found here.

Your turn: What thinketh you?