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Don't set us up with the Server in the Sky

January 21, 2008
Posted by Stuart Trew

In a move that runs counter to recommendations by the Arar Commission, the RCMP is in discussions with the FBI and other state security agencies to set up an international database of biometric information on terrorist and criminal suspects.

"Canada is working with the FBI on a system called Server in the Sky that would see fingerprint and iris scan data shared around the world to nab individuals running from the law," wrote the Globe and Mail on January 19.

"The personal information on the database would be used by Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand and could ultimately be used by European Union countries as well," continued the Globe article. "The number of people in the system with connections to terrorism and other serious crimes would be well over one million."

The RCMP put out a statement claiming that it is "working with the FBI, through the International Information Consortium," on Server in the Sky but that, "At this point it is only a concept and no commitment has been made by the RCMP to implement such a system until we are satisfied that the planned concept of operations would not violate current international sharing agreements or privacy laws in Canada."

As the Globe article states, "Contrary to the RCMP statement, [FBI spokesperson Tom] Bush said the data would not be limited to terrorists. He said American officials, for example, would upload the files of all 600,000 individuals now wanted in the United States."

The FBI told the Guardian newspaper that: "Server in the Sky is an FBI initiative designed to foster the advanced search and exchange of biometric information on a global scale. While it is currently in the concept and design stages, once complete it will provide a technical forum for member nations to submit biometric search requests to other nations. It will maintain a core holding of the world's 'worst of the worst' individuals. Any identifications of these people will be sent as a priority message to the requesting nation."

Canadian participation in such a database would run counter to at least two of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar.

Recommendation 2 states: "Once information is in foreign hands, it will be used in accordance with the laws of the foreign jurisdiction, which may not be the same as Canadian law. Reducing arrangements to writing, even if only in an exchange of letters, greatly assists in ensuring accountability in decision making and in reviewing integrated activities, including information sharing."

The automatic sharing of criminal information, as opposed to the sharing of written information on a case-by-case basis, would seem to contradict this recommendation.

Furthermore, Recommendation 14 states that: "The RCMP and CSIS should review their policies governing the circumstances in which they supply information to foreign governments with questionable human rights records. Information should never be provided to a foreign country where there is a credible risk that it will cause or contribute to the use of torture. Policies should include specific directions aimed at eliminating any possible Canadian complicity in torture, avoiding the risk of other human rights abuses and ensuring accountability."

Despite Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier's backtracking last week, there is ample credible evidence, on top of the leaked Canadian manual, that the United States in fact does resort to torture at Guantanamo Bay and other secret sites around the world. The Arar case also proves that U.S. security officials will use Canadian national security information in ways that put Canadian citizens at risk of torture and other human rights abuses.

Canadian participation in the FBI's Server in the Sky program would contradict these Arar Commission recommendations but it would be completely in accordance with the Security and Prosperity Partnership's goals of addressing "significant legal restrictions to the sharing of investigative information," of exploring means "to address and resolve gaps in cross-border information-sharing channels," and of enhancing the "capacity to combat terrorism through the appropriate sharing of terrorist watchlist data and the establishment of appropriate linkages between Canada, the United States and Mexico."

Clearly the Canadian government has decided that cooperation with Canada's so-called allies, particularly the United States, is more important than the internationally recognized human rights of any one of its citizens.