Canadian Lawyer

28 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m surveillance the new state by shannon kari police can capture an astronomical amount of information through new technologies, and privacy lawyers say there is little oversight or accountability I n the summer of 2011, a day after the ambush-style shooting death of Keith Brissett Jr., Peel Regional Police obtained a production order from a justice of the peace for a "tower dump" as part of the investigation. The request permitted police to obtain subscriber data and call records of anyone who used their mobile devices near cell towers, in a location in Mississauga, just outside of Toronto. The immediate suspect was Sheldon Ranglin, who was believed to have shot Brissett to death in a revenge attack. Ranglin was ultimately convicted of first-degree murder at trial nearly five years later, based on other evidence. None of the information turned over from the tower dump was put to the jury by the Crown. The many individuals who were not a target in the murder investigation yet had personal phone data turned over to the police were not notified of this fact because there is no legal requirement to do so. What happened to this information and with data that is obtained from any other tower dump produc- tion order is also unknown, because unlike traditional wiretap authorizations, reporting requirements are virtually non-existent. Michael Moon, the defence lawyer who represented Ranglin, says tower dump requests are not unusual in Toronto-area murder investigations. "You can have thousands and thousands of people accessing the same tower," says Moon, who heads Moon Rozier LPC in Brampton, Ont. Unless it uncovers information that may negatively impact a client, there is no reason for the defence to challenge these sweeping orders, he points out. The Ranglin case is just one example of how police surveillance techniques have fundamentally changed as a result of new technologies. Instead of seeking court permission for traditional wiretaps, law enforcement will obtain orders to access an enormous volume of text messages or other mobile device data. Instead of listening to the wiretaps — or "wires" — police will utilize tower dumps or other devices, such as International Mobile Subscriber Identity — or IMSI — catchers, which impersonate actual cell towers and trick phones into attaching to them and disclosing phone log and location information. The technological landscape is very different than it was more than three decades ago when Parliament enacted Part VI of the Criminal Code, the "Invasion of Privacy" section. It set up a rigorous framework to oversee police requests to intercept communications, which required judicial approval. Traditional wiretaps have steadily decreased in recent years and have been replaced by tower dumps, GARY NEILL

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