Nearly 70 per cent of Canadians are willing to give police greater powers to investigate suspects cloaked by online anonymity — as long as their actions are monitored by a judge, a Toronto Star/CBC national poll has found.

While 2,500 respondents to the poll were split down the middle on Canadians’ right to complete digital privacy, most said that right should not extend to suspects in a serious crime investigation.

“The vast majority of Canadians . . . are willing to accept certain conditions . . . if it means that public safety is put first and their own families or personal safety is protected because police and intelligence agencies have these tools,” said David Coletto, CEO of Ottawa-based Abacus Data, which conducted the polling on behalf of the Toronto Star and CBC News.

“When a judge is involved, when a warrant is needed, we find broad support. It’s only when you take away that judicial oversight that you see a much more divided population.”

The findings are part of a Toronto Star/CBC investigation into policing in the digital age, a topic under debate in national security public consultations. Top RCMP officials warn that serious crimes are increasingly unpunished because evidence is disappearing behind sophisticated unbreakable encryption or being purged from the servers of telecommunications companies.

The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Perhaps the most striking finding is that Canadians are open to a police proposal for a law allowing authorities to compel a suspect in a criminal investigation to hand over the password or encryption key to investigators.

Initially, nearly half of respondents — 49 per cent — agreed police should have the ability to access personal devices. With the addition of a judge’s authorization, support jumps to 77 per cent.

“There’s broad support . . . which I think was an interesting finding,” said Coletto. “Canadians — and I’ve seen this in other research we’ve done on other controversial issues — are open-minded. They’re willing and open to being persuaded about public policy questions.”

There is a notable gender gap in the responses with men taking a distinctly stronger privacy position than women.

For example, 55 per cent of men agreed that every Canadian has the right to complete digital privacy versus 40 per cent of women.

For suspects in serious crime investigations, 30 per cent of men insist on complete digital privacy as a right. Only 17 per cent of women demand that right for crime suspects.

Other key findings include:

19 per cent of Canadians are “privacy purists” who oppose any infringement on their digital privacy, even if they are suspected of committing a serious crime. The purists are 71 per cent male and are much more likely to use encryption. They are also less trusting of law enforcement, security, or legal institutions.

47 per cent of Canadians are “conditionalists” who are split on the complete right to digital privacy but agree that suspects in serious criminal investigations should lose the right if a judge issues a warrant.

19 per cent of Canadians are “security firsters” who believe Canadians do not have a right to complete digital privacy, especially for those suspected of committing a serious crime. Security firsters are 61 per cent female, older (57 per cent are 45 years or older) and are more trusting of law enforcement and intelligence institutions.

The initial polling of 1,500 people was completed Oct. 20 to 22.

A second phase of polling took place Nov. 7 to 9, after reports that a Federal Court judge found that Canada’s intelligence agency, CSIS, had illegally gathered Canadians’ private information and that Quebec police intercepted and tracked the cellphones of at least 10 journalists to discover their sources.

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An additional 1,000 Canadians were polled in this second phase.

The results showed almost no meaningful change.

There was very little or no change among different age groups (young people share many of the same opinions as older respondents) and political persuasions.

Police in Canada — including RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson — are calling for access to the basic identifying information without requiring a warrant from a judge.

That’s where Canadians draw a line.

More than three-quarters of respondents say police should be required to get a warrant from a judge every time they search a suspect’s basic digital information.

Even when presented with law enforcement’s argument that the time and red tape involved in obtaining a warrant can slow down and even entirely undermine an investigation, only 35 per cent supported a law that would allow warrantless access.

Canadians are split on the police proposal for a law that would require telecommunications companies to retain data for two years so police could access data.

Forty-one per cent agree, 39 per cent disagree and 19 per cent are unsure.

But agreement rises to 66 per cent if a warrant is obtained.

“That check actually makes people who were initially uncomfortable, far more accepting of the police having that ability to use that data when they think it’s important for their investigation.” Coletto said.

The only question that produced near consensus asked Canadians if police and intelligence agencies already have the ability to monitor Internet activities. Ninety-four per cent said they believe authorities can already do so surreptitiously.

Nearly half of respondents said they believed their Internet activity is monitored by police or intelligence agencies.

“These two data points suggest that even though . . . a significant portion believes they have a right to digital privacy, very few think that it’s possible for them to be completely anonymous online,” Coletto said.

They are right, said former provincial information and privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian.

“This type of activity has been going on for a long time,” she said. “This is something we need to be very concerned about. To me, freedom is absolutely critical. Preserving that freedom now and well into the future will take all of our efforts.”