Date of Publishing:
NSIRA’s Notification Letter
Dear Chief Xavier,
I am writing on behalf of the Members of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) to inform you that NSIRA has initiated a review of the Communications Security Establishment’s (CSE) retention of SIGINT data pursuant to section 16 of the CSE Act.
This review intends to assess CSE’s compliance with law, ministerial authorization and policy. It will evaluate the reasonableness, necessity, and efficacy of CSE’s SIGINT data retention.
This review is being conducted pursuant to paragraph 8(1)(a) of the NSIRA Act. The NSIRA Act grants NSIRA full and timely access to all information held by reviewed departments and agencies, including classified and privileged information, with the exception of cabinet confidences.
The NSIRA review team conducting this review has been identified in the cover email to this letter; they should serve as your officials’ primary point of contact at NSIRA regarding this review. Please ensure that the relevant points of contact within your organization are identified to NSIRA’s review team in the coming days. As the review progresses, NSIRA’s review team will be in regular contact with them regarding requests for information. Such requests may involve documents, system access, written explanations, briefings, interviews, surveys, and any other information that NSIRA determines to be of relevance. NSIRA reviews may also include independent inspections of technical systems. NSIRA’s “Expectations for Responsiveness in Reviews” are available on our website, www.nsira-ossnr.gc.ca.
I thank you in advance for your cooperation and support to the independent review process, which is key to transparency and democratic accountability.
Sincerely,
John Davies
Executive Director, National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Secretariat
