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The number of private digital devices seized by the Canada Border Services Agency is unknown, according to a report.

Under an obscure provision of the Customs Act, devices carried by travellers such as cellphones and iPads can be searched at the border by Customs officers. They can be confiscated if passwords or keys to encrypted data are not surrendered.

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“At this time the agency does not track data on device seizures due to refusal to provide a password,” CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy told Blacklock’s Reporter.

The CBSA also did not have an answer to which border crossings and airport checkpoints had the highest rates of cellphone searches.

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“The agency is unable to provide information broken down by month, mode and province at this time,” said Purdy. “We will only begin collecting information by region and mode once the agency’s new statistics collection automated process goes into effect for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.”

The CBSA reported from November 2017 to December 2019, a total of 27,405 digital devices were searched.

Of those searches, the agency said 60% required no further investigation. Staff added a “Customs-related offence” occurred in about 40% of searches.

And according to Access To Information records in 2018, most of the searches occurred in British Columbia (57%), followed by Ontario (18%), the Prairies (12%), Quebec (11%) and Atlantic Canada land crossings (1%).