The Federation for Accountability, Freedom, and Oversight pursues policies on systematic proactive bases as well as in response to specific embodiments of illegitimate government behavior. The following is a non-exhaustive list of our ongoing projects
Limiting Blanket Glomar Responses from Communications Security Establishment
After noticing that Communications Security Establishment (CSE) routinely issues blanket “neither-confirm-nor-deny” responses to Privacy Act and Access to Information Act requests, also known as Glomar Responses, we are working, through the Privacy Act, to ensure that CSE must issue separate findings for different databanks under its control. A complaint against a CSE Glomar Response is currently at an advanced stage with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and CSE has already illustrated a willingness to clarify that its Glomar response applied to (PIB) CSE PPU 040 (Foreign Intelligence Files). CSE represents that it also searched PIB CSE PPU 007 (Cyber Defence) and the PIBs produced from the activities of its Internal Services. In this respect, we are hoping that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will issue a finding mandating that CSE issue separate responses for different PIBs (data banks) when multiple PIBs are potentially responsive to a request. Should we not be successful with the OPC, FAFO Labs will take this case before the Courts. (Last Update September 25, 2025).