Canada Border Services Agency and Canada Border Agency

Canada: Still, privacy and civil liberties watchdogs want to know more about the border agency so-called scenario-based targeting system to ensure individual rights are not being trampled, according to CTV. The agency has implemented the targeting system, already used by the United States, as part of Canada commitment to co-operate with Washington under the 2011 continental security pact known as the Beyond the Border initiative. The Canada Border Services Agency says the travellers - flagged for possible links to terrorism or serious crime - represented a tiny fraction of the millions who flew into the country. Commercial airlines are legally bound to provide Canada border agency with specific information about passengers flying to Canada, including name, birthdate, citizenship, seat number and other details. The new scenario-based scheme uses elaborate number-crunching, or Big Data analytics, to reveal patterns in the information provided by air carriers - a method the border agency considers more efficient and accurate. The border agency has long used the information to assess people for risk, allowing officials to zero in on those with high scores for additional attention upon landing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.