Ottawa worried about Canadians' freedoms

OTTAWA, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Canada's privacy commissioner is warning the U.S.-led war on terror threatens the personal freedoms of Canadians.

Jennifer Stoddart told Parliament recent U.S. pressure on Ottawa to share information with Washington raised the likelihood people would be wrongly singled out and treated unfairly, the BBC reported Friday.

She warned mistakes had already been made, most visibly that of Arab-Canadian Maher Arar who was deported to Syria by the United States. In Syria, Arar was held and tortured before being allowed to return home.

Stoddart's report also raised concerns about the growing use of private companies by government security agencies to collect personal data on individuals.