OTTAWA, August 6, 2003 --The Government of Canada today released a report summarizing submissions responding to the government's consultations on lawful access. The consultations were held as part of an ongoing legislative review to consider the impact of new communication technologies on police and national security investigations.

Lawful access to information and communications is the lawful interception of communications and the lawful search and seizure of information, including computer data. Lawful access is a specialized tool used to investigate serious crimes, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, smuggling, child pornography, and murder. Lawful interception of communications is also an essential tool for the investigation of threats to national security, such as terrorism. Lawful access requires first obtaining legal authority, such as a warrant issued by a judge under specific circumstances.

Lawful access consultations were launched in August 2002 with the release of a consultation paper, and concluded in December. The consultations were lead by the Department of Justice Canada in cooperation with its partners, Industry Canada and the Portfolio of the Solicitor General of Canada. In all, more than 300 submissions were received from:

• 56 individual police agencies and associations;
• 19 telecommunications companies and industry associations;
• 5 privacy commissioners, including the Privacy Commissioner of Canada;
• 14 groups representing the civil society sector, including consumer and privacy advocates; and
• 219 individuals.

The Government of Canada is currently studying the feedback it obtained to determine how best to proceed in developing the lawful access legislative proposals.

The Summary of Submissions to the Lawful Access Consultation, as well as Frequently Asked Questions on lawful access, are posted on the Department of Justice Canada Website at http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/cons/la_al/index.html.

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