(Ottawa) Protecting personal data and privacy is not in the DNA of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). That’s why it’s important to regulate the use of spy software by the federal police as part of their criminal investigations, says former privacy protection officer Daniel Therrien.
Posted 12:33pm Updated 5:19pm
Joël-Denis Bellavance La Presse
Mr Therrien, who was Commissioner from 2014 until recently, has no hesitation in supporting the recommendation of his successor, Philippe Dufresne, on this dossier.
Testifying before a parliamentary committee on Monday, Dufresne said the RCMP should be legally required to assess the privacy impact of such spyware before deploying it. Such a commitment would ensure that Canadians do not lose confidence in their institutions.
“The RCMP has a culture of law enforcement anyway. It is true that the RCMP does not have a particularly high level of expertise in the field of data protection. I have felt a desire in the last few months of the final year of my tenure to increase knowledge of data protection at the RCMP. But it’s not her first instinct,” said Mr Therrien.
A necessary framework
Mr Therrien said he was surprised to learn that the RCMP had been using an investigative tool as intrusive as spyware for a number of years during his testimony before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on Tuesday.
During his eight years at the head of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, the police have never consulted him on the advisability of using such technologies.
He also called on elected officials to amend the Privacy Act to give the RCMP a legal obligation to assess the privacy impact of spyware and specify the circumstances in which those assessments should be made.
It needs clear legal rules, high legal standards and independent supervision.
Daniel Therrien, former Data Protection Officer
“Since this technology is very intrusive, should backups be improved? The answer is without a doubt,” he added.
At the instigation of Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure, the committee was convened for a special working session after the RCMP admitted using spyware to surreptitiously obtain data from a mobile phone or computer in documents written before the adjournment in June House of Commons were tabled in June.
A software that allows the capture “secretly and remotely”.
Created in 2016, the program is administered by the RCMP’s Secret Access and Intercept Team (EASI). This department is equipped with “on-device discovery tools”. Installed on “a specific computing device,” these tools “enable the gathering of electronic evidence from the […] secretly and remotely.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino clarified Monday that the issue was not Pegasus, the software developed by NSO Group, an Israeli company, and banned from United States territory by the US Congress. However, he would not say what software was used by the RCMP.
Senior RCMP officials said Monday they were using these technologies sparingly and after obtaining court approval, without giving further details. They confirmed that this spyware has been used in 32 investigations involving 49 devices since 2017.
“Electronic Monitoring of Steroids”
Access and Privacy Council of Canada President Sharon Polsky said Tuesday after former Commissioner Daniel Therrien that she fears police are drifting.
Police sometimes use tools without documenting what is being done. The technology itself is morally neutral, but how you justify its use makes a big difference.
Sharon Polsky, President of the Access and Privacy Council of Canada
“That’s why this study is so important,” she said.
For his part, Ronald J. Deibert, professor of political science at the University of Toronto and director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, argued that spyware poses a serious threat to privacy, and its use must not be limited to law enforcement agencies , but also framed in private companies.
“Spyware is electronic surveillance on steroids. These technologies are to electronic surveillance what nuclear technology was to weapons,” he summarized.