A Canadian Spy agency has reportedly been using the Wi-Fi network in a “major Canadian airport” to track travelers’ movements even after they had left the terminal.
Data captured at the airport over a period of two weeks showed that the free Wi-Fi service was used to track travelers for over a week as their mobile devices logged in to various similar hotspots in public places across Canada and parts of the US. The documents showing this shocking invasion of privacy was reported by CBC News on Thursday, citing information leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
The Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) was responsible for the invasion of traveler privacy, though it is not clear how the organization actually came into possession of the data in the first place. It was indicated by CBC news that the Wi-Fi tracking data was provided voluntarily by a “special source”.
The two largest airports in Canada, Toronto, and Vancouver have both issued statements claiming that they have never released any Wi-Fi information to the CSEC.
