The House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Committee voted on Tuesday to launch a special summer study to examine the use of spyware by the RCMP, calling on the National Police to be more transparent about the software they use to conduct surveillance or collect data as part of their investigations.
MPs on the committee have decided to hold a series of meetings starting in August that will aim to determine what “device investigation tools” the RCMP uses, as well as how to use this software.
The committee asked the RCMP to provide a list of warrants obtained, if any, for the use of this software, and is also seeking information relating to the potential wiretapping of Members of Parliament, their parliamentary assistants or any other employee of the Parliament of Canada.
As part of the study, MPs will call all RCMP officers who have made decisions about the use of surveillance tools; the Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino; and current and former Federal Privacy Commissioners to testify, with the ability to invite additional witnesses if desired.
Concerns over the RCMP’s use of spyware have been sparked after papers tabled in the House of Commons in June shed new light on police use of spyware to conduct surveillance and gather data , including accessing microphones and cameras of phones belonging to major crime suspects. criminal and national security investigations.
In the documents, the RCMP says the tools used by the Technical Investigation Services Access and Interception team are used “primarily” to access text messages and other communications “covertly and remotely”. information that could not be collected using wiretaps or “other less means”. intrusive investigative techniques.
“Police must sometimes use advanced technological capabilities to overcome investigative obstacles such as those caused by encryption,” reads the RCMP’s brief to the House of Commons. The agency also said that these “investigations into the device [sic] tools” were used 10 times between 2018 and 2022, and that “in all cases, judicial authorization was obtained” before the deployment of the tools.
Bloc Québécois MP and vice-chairman of the committee, René Villemure, moved the motion, telling his colleagues at a meeting on Tuesday to discuss resuming the study, that although concerns had been raised in the Commons When the disclosure was first made by the National Police, questions remain.
“This document should be clarified. And the questions I would ask relate to this document. There are no accusations, we are looking into things,” he said in French.
In the wake of the RCMP’s confirmation that they are using these tools, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has expressed concern that police in Canada are using spyware against Canadians in connection with targeted surveys.
“What we don’t know is vast. What types of investigations are deemed serious enough to use such invasive tools? What tools are used and who provides them? Is it one of many spyware vendors known to sell such tools to authoritarian states that use it to target human rights defenders and journalists? What are the internal decision and authorization processes undertaken to authorize this nuclear option for the surveillance of Canadians? asked Brenda McPhail, Director CCLA’s Privacy Monitoring and Technology Program in a statement calling for an open discussion on the use of these tools.
The proposal for this study met with resistance from Liberal members of the committee, who expressed hesitation as to whether the panel of MPs was best placed to undertake this work, attempting unsuccessfully to amend the motion to limit the range.
“I agree with my colleagues, it is important to hold our institutions to account, but it is also important at the same time to ensure that there is trust in public institutions that is maintained at the same time. “said Liberal MP and vice-chairman of the committee Iqra Khalid. at Tuesday’s meeting. She suggested the matter might be better placed with the Top Secret National Security Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP).
“I understand that members would like to have this conversation in a more public forum, which obviously restricts our ability to ask these classified questions that we may not get answered, or to receive these classified documents that we may not receive. maybe not, because of the sensitive nature of it,” Khalid said.
Tory MP and committee member James Bezan said he disagreed and said the issue was something the committee should look into.
“I think we want to be very careful about how we deal with this, including national security issues. But we don’t want the RCMP to use the pretense of national security or public safety as a way to lift the veil. on this information and hide it from parliamentarians,” Bezan said.
The committee aims to complete its study and submit a report to the House of Commons by the start of the fall sitting on September 19.
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