Christopher Parsons was interviewed by a number of media outlets throughout March, focusing on government access to telecommunications data held by private companies, and on companies’ internal data handling practices. In response to letters sent by the Citizen Lab, and co-signed by leading academics and civil advocacy organizations in Canada, Canadian telecommunications companies generally declined to disclose how they retained, disclosed, or managed Canadians’ telecommunications data. Parsons spoke with a range of media outlets about these responses, including:
- The Globe and Mail (“Why can’t, or won’t, your phone company detail data it shares with the feds?” and “Canada’™s metadata collection worries critics”)
- The Ottawa Citizen (“Internet firms play coy on how they share info with police, government”)
- The Wire Report (“Telecoms offer few details on info disclosure”)
- IT World Canada (“Some ISPs don’t cave when asked for subscriber info, says report”)
- The Spec (“Telecoms evasive on how they co-operate with spies, police: researchers”)
- The Tyee (“How Do Telecoms Share Data with Government? They Won’t Say”)
He also spoke to the Ottawa Citizen about the role of metadata in contemporary corporate surveillance capabilities and with The Globe and Mail about the risks of expanding Canadian law to indemnify corporations who disclose telecommunications metadata without prior judicial oversight.
Parsons was also interviewed by Global TV to discuss the Internet of Things and the opportunities and risks associated with embedding wireless-enabled sensors throughout the lived environment.