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Some Canadian universities are removing their data from US-based computer servers and turning to domestic companies to host their data because of fears that their privacy could be compromised by American anti-terrorism legislation.

Several institutions have switched to Canadian-based servers because they worry that the US Patriot Act, which was passed in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001, means the US Government could force companies to open their databases to it. Several Canadian provinces have passed legislation to protect data from the Act by forbidding public bodies from storing data in the US. The popular online anti-plagiarism computer service Turnitin also plans to set up Canadian servers to get around the problem.