ISPs have snooping clauses in their contracts

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said the language in each Internet provider's agreement was so broad, that they must be monitoring customers' activities.

He said that provider agreements were "an outrageous violation of individual rights".

One ISP Bell Sympatico warns customers that it will "monitor or investigate content or your use of your service provider's networks and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy any laws, regulations or other governmental request."

The fear is that when the Canadian government revamps Internet surveillance legislation will give coppers and security snoops access to personal information without a warrant. By collecting data, the ISPs can provide the spooks with a one stop shop to personal data.

More at the Globe and Mail, here. µ