“Canadian Eyes Only”: Techno-Securitization, Just Surveillance, and the Communications Security Establishment
Date
2025-01-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0005-2994-1466
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is Canada’s foreign signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency. Its empowering act prohibits the intelligence agency from collecting signals intelligence (SIGINT) on Canadians and collecting Canadian information. However, CSE is authorized to collect Canadian information under several mandates. This thesis examines CSE’s adherence to its legal restrictions by analyzing its policies, oversight reports, and past actions. CSE is a relatively unknown and opaque agency, making past research scarce and researching the agency inherently difficult. This thesis attempts to shed light on the agency by analyzing how it collects, stores, uses, and disseminates Canadian information at the policy and practice level. Despite legal safeguards, evidence suggests that CSE routinely collects and shares Canadian information, raising questions on the validity of its prohibition. This thesis analyses the complexities of balancing national security and privacy concerns regarding CSE’s mandate and activities to determine if CSE protects Canadians' privacy while fulfilling its national security raison d'etre.
Description
Keywords
Surveillance, Privacy, Just Surveillance, Techno-securitization, CSE, Communications Security Establishment, Signals Intelligence,
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Political Studies
Program
Political Science