Lux Ex Umbra: I am great

And you can see just how great here (assuming you can get beyond the paywall): Colin Freeze, Researcher connects dots on spy agency's monitoring of Wifi, Globe and Mail, 13 August 2014.

For those of you stuck on the outside, here are the key grafs:

Now, I've met Mr. Robinson, and consider him an argument for, and not against, the mosaic effect. Never an adversary of the state, he is more like an astute observer who has taken it upon himself to read well and deeply into a paucity of CSEC materials out there, to tell the public what he can about this important institution. In this way, he is more like an unpaid, unofficial public servant, soberly telling Canadians more about CSEC than the agency ever will itself.

So when Ottawa officials default to saying nothing of substance about CSEC, the Lux Ex Umbra blog - literally "light from darkness" - always has an insight. Peruse the postings over the past decade in their totality and what you'll see chronicled is an incredible story. The evolution of CSEC, its powers, its budget and its growing reach both inside and outside of Canada - a story everyone else had missed.

So here's to you Mr. Robinson. When government agents say 'we'd like to know a little bit about you for our files' and hide it in their hiding place where no one ever goes, it's nice to have a little light cast on such matters.

So there you have it.

Update 16 August 2014:

Further reporting/commentary on the question of how great I am:

Matthew Braga:

Meanwhile, Bill Robinson does some more amazing sleuth work in further analyzing CSEC’s airport wifi tracking initiative (and gets a much-deserved nod from The Globe and Mail for doing so, too.)

Professor Ron Deibert, Director, Citizen Lab:

Well deserved praise for @NewmanRobinson by @Colinfreeze https://t.co/pcs7mMQUii Canada's foremost #CSEC observer!
— profdeibert (@RonDeibert) August 16, 2014

This is really getting quite embarrassing.

I am left with no alternative but to reproduce all such comments here.

Update 21 August 2014:

Globe and Mail editorial declares me "a skillful amateur" ("A glimpse into the iceberg that is CSEC," Globe and Mail, 21 August 2014).

I guess this thing has just about run its course.

Update 24 August 2016:

...And we're back!

In Canada, a citizen @NewmanRobinson acts as the most effective independent check on @cse_cst. W / no formal power or authority.
— profdeibert (@RonDeibert) August 25, 2016

And don't tell me the @cse_cst commissioner is "independent" oversight in any meaningful sense. It's a review body inside the security tent.
— profdeibert (@RonDeibert) August 25, 2016

The government should give @NewmanRobinson a staff, a legal mandate, and authority to compel production of data.
— profdeibert (@RonDeibert) August 25, 2016

A salary would be nice too. Just saying.

Update 8 February 2017:

I've been asked to join the band!

In the Canadian intel-accountability equivalent of Neil Young joining Crosby, Stills, Nash, @NewmanRobinson is part of @citizenlab (!)! pic.twitter.com/2Xmn4pW27u
— Colin Freeze (@Colinfreeze) February 3, 2017

Thanks for all the good wishes!

Update 25 August 2018: