Privacy & Terrorism Review Where Have We Come In 10 Years?

• Author: Besar Xhelili - Emir Crowne
• Position: Barrister & Solicitor, Law Society of Upper Canada - Barrister & Solicitor, Law Society of Upper Canada, Associate Professor, University of Windsor Faculty of Law
• Pages: 121-135

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Privacy & Terrorism Review

Where Have We Come In 10 Years?

Besar Xhelili,

Barrister & Solicitor

Law Society of Upper Canada

Emir Crowne

Barrister & Solicitor

Law Society of Upper Canada

Associate Professor,

University of Windsor Faculty of Law

emir@uwindsor.ca

Abstract: As a result of terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11 and

subsequent attacks on other influential western coun tries, new laws have been put in place to

supposedly be an effective tool to prevent terrorist attacks and conjointly fight the war on drugs.

These laws an d presidential executive orders have not been without controversy. The Patriot Act

will be used as the primary source of legislation in illustrating how in times of fear governments

introduce laws, which normally would not be accepted by the general population as a clear

invasion of their privacy. In addition , Canada and the United Kingdom’s anti-terrorist legislations

will be compared with the United States. Money laundering, terrorist a nti-terrorist finance,

government investigative surveillance, and data mining will be the areas this pa per will focus on

to illustrate the emergin g invasion on privacy for the sake of security. Despite the fact tha t we are

losing our privacy to our fears of danger, a light will be shed as to the effectiveness of these new

laws. Case law will b e used to illustrate that the courts have been reluctant in invalidating laws

that infringe our constitutionally given rig hts of privacy. Po ssible alternative measures will be

given to deal with acts of terrorism. Th is paper will argue that privacy rights have seen a shift

from its trad itional understanding since the recent terrorist attacks on the western governments

and that security ha s taken a primary role; privacy rights have been traded as a commodity in the

market by the U.S and to a lesser extent the Canadian gove rnment.

1. Introduction

As a result of terrorist attacks in the United Sta tes on September 11 and subsequent attacks on other influential

western countries, new laws have been put in place to supposed ly be an effective tool to prevent terrorist attacks

and conjointly fight the war on drugs. These laws and presidential executive orders have not been without

controversy.

This paper will argue that privacy rights have seen a shift from its traditional understanding since the recent

terrorist attacks on the western governments and that securit y has taken a primary role; privacy rights have been

traded as a commodity in the market by the U.S and to a lesser extent the Canadian government. The Patriot Act

will be used as the primary source of legislation in ill ustrating how in times of fear governments introduce laws,

which normally would not be accepted by the general population as a clear invasion of their privacy.

1

In

1

Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of

2001, Pub. L. No. 107-56, 115 Stat. 272 (2001)