PROTECTING CANADIANS’ PRIVACY AT THE U.S. BORDER Report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Bob Zimmer, Chair DECEMBER 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca PROTECTING CANADIANS’ PRIVACY AT THE U.S. BORDER Report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Bob Zimmer Chair DECEMBER 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PRIVACY AND ETHICS CHAIR Bob Zimmer VICE-CHAIRS Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Nathan Cullen MEMBERS Frank Baylis Hon. Peter Kent Emmanuel Dubourg Joyce Murray* Mona Fortier Michel Picard Jacques Gourde Raj Saini OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Bill Blair Pat Kelly Hon. Steven Blaney Linda Lapointe Sylvie Boucher Wayne Long Blaine Calkins Robert-Falcon Ouellette Matthew Dubé Brenda Shanahan Ali Ehsassi Scott Simms Peter Fragiskatos Karine Trudel Matt Jeneroux Erin Weir * Non-voting member, pursuant to Standing Order 104(5). iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Hugues La Rue LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Chloé Forget Maxime-Olivier Thibodeau Michael Dewing iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PRIVACY AND ETHICS has the honour to present its TENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(3)(h)(vii), the Committee has studied the Privacy of Canadians at Airports, Borders and Travelling in the United States and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................. 1 PROTECTING CANADIANS’ PRIVACY AT THE U.S. BORDER ................................................. 3 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 3 PART 1: STRENGTHENING MEASURES TO PROTECT CANADIANS’ PRIVACY BY WRITING THE GUIDELINES OF THE CANADA BORDER SERVICES AGENCY’S POLICY ON THE EXAMINATION OF DIGITAL DEVICES AT THE BORDER INTO THE ACT .............................................................................................................................................. 4 A. CBSA policy on the examination of digital devices and media at the port of entry .................................................................................................................................. 5 B. Witnesses’ views on the examination of digital devices at the Canadian border ................................................................................................................ 8 PART 2: THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACKING EXAMINATIONS OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES AT BORDER CROSSINGS AND COMPILING STATISTICS IN THIS REGARD ............................................................................................................................................ 11 PART 3: SEARCHES OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES BY U.S. CUSTOMS OFFICERS AND PRECLEARANCE ................................................................................................................. 13 PART 4: CANADA AND THE U.S. JUDICIAL REDRESS ACT ............................................. 16 A. Executive Order of 25 January 2017 ......................................................................... 16 B. Letter of 8 March 2017 from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada............. 17 C. Response from the Canadian Government to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s letter of 8 March 2017 .......................................................................... 18 D. Evidence ............................................................................................................................... 19 PART 5: CANADA BORDER SERVICES AGENCY OVERSIGHT ...................................... 21 vii Appendix A: Examination of Digital Devices and Media at the Port of Entry – Guidelines ........................................................................................................................................................ 23 Appendix B: Chief Privacy Officer (Department of Homeland Security of the United States .................................................................................................................................................. 27 Appendix C: Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Department of Homeland Security of the United States) ................................................................................................................. 33 Appendix D: List of witnesses ................................................................................................................. 37 Appendix E: List of briefs .......................................................................................................................... 39 Request for government response ....................................................................................................... 41 viii LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below. Recommendation 1 That the guidelines in the operational bulletin of the Canada Border Services Agency entitled Examination of Digital Devices and Media at the Port of Entry – Guidelines be written into the Customs Act............................................................... 11 Recommendation 2 That the threshold of “multiplicity of indicators” required for the search of electronic devices set out in the operational bulletin of the Canada Border Services Agency entitled Examination of Digital Devices and Media at the Port of Entry – Guidelines be replaced with the threshold defined in law of “reasonable grounds to suspect.” ............................................................................. 11 Recommendation 3 That the Government of Canada track the examination of electronic devices at border crossings and in airports, that statistics be compiled on these examinations and that updates be regularly given to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in this regard. ........................................................................................... 13 Recommendation 4 That the Government of Canada a) ensure that the act respecting the preclearance of travellers in Canada include privacy protections; b) that the act respecting the preclearance of travellers in Canada require the threshold of “reasonable grounds to suspect” for examinations of electronic devices by officers in preclearance areas. ................................................. 16 1 Recommendation 5 That the Government of Canada ask the Government of the United States to add Canada to the list of designated countries under the U.S. Judicial Redress Act. ............................................................................................................. 20 Recommendation 6 That the Government of Canada work with its American counterparts to monitor the application of existing information sharing agreements with the United States in order to ensure that Canadian personal information