CSEC, Canada's already-secretive eavesdropping agency, gets even quieter
July 25, 2012 - 4:55 PM
OTTAWA - The curtains at Canada's most secretive federal agency have been drawn a little tighter.
The government has quietly stopped telling Canadians about the annual priorities of the national electronic eavesdropping agency — meaning scant details of its mission, once public, are now classified.
Ottawa-based Communications Security Establishment Canada has the dual role of monitoring foreign computer, satellite, radio and telephone traffic, as well as helping protect federal computer systems.
For years, a section of the Defence Department's annual plans and priorities report spelled out the agency's priorities.
Last year those priorities included a focus on Canada's mission in Afghanistan, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, foreign espionage and interference, and the federal government's northern Canada strategy.
As a result of federal organizational changes, CSE will now produce its own plans and priorities report, performance report and annual report — but none will be published.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012