Canadian Cops Belatedly Asking For Authorization To Deploy Stingray Devices They've Been Using For Years

from the papering-over-the-lack-of-authorizing-papers dept

Better late than never is the motto of Canadian law enforcement Stingray Squads. Documents obtained by Vice Canada show police scrambling to obtain warrants for equipment they were already deploying.

“Given recent media events my inspector has asked that I make an official request … for an authorization,” writes a member of the Calgary Police Electronic Surveillance Team on April 6 of this year. “There is some urgency to try and get this authorization in place as we are currently using the device.” The device in question is an International Mobile Subscriber Identity-catcher — known more commonly as an IMSI catcher, a Mobile Device Identifier, or by the brand name Stingray.

The Calgary Police join the rest of the nation's police forces in the officially un-admitted to use of Stingray devices. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the only agency to actually hold a press briefing to announce its use of the controversial devices. All other admissions have been dragged out of agencies, either through court filings or through public records requests.

Perhaps sensing the government's regulators might have a problem with a bunch of unregulated signals, Canadian law enforcement agencies are obtaining "just in case" authorization, even as they state there's nothing legally preventing them from deploying the devices without the Innovation, Science and Economic Development agency's (Canada's FCC equivalent) approval.

In the RCMP’s letter, they argue that ISED doesn’t actually need to approve their IMSI catcher. Nevertheless, they submitted an application. “The RCMP was first made aware of ISED views on the RCMP’s use of [IMSI catchers] through media coverage in late March 2016,” they RCMP wrote, in requesting “timely” approval to keep using the devices. A second letter, this time from the Ontario Provincial Police, similarly requests permission to use the devices — so similar, in fact, it is nearly word-for-word for the RCMP’s earlier request.

Whether ISED will see post-dated requests as a sign of good faith remains to be seen. But there's no way cops are going to stop deploying Stingrays until proper authorization is obtained. And the top name in IMSI catchers is probably assisting agencies in keeping these devices up and running, even if it might mean playing fast and loose with the facts when asking for approval.

Stingrays are the law enforcement's worst-kept secret -- on both sides of the border. A steady flow of documents that traces all the way back to a person imprisoned for tax crimes has resulted in plenty of public discussion about the privacy implications of cell tower spoofers… but very little in the way of published policies or judicial guidance. Only a couple of US courts have reached the conclusion Stingray deployments are Fourth Amendment searches. On the other side of the border things are just as unsettled.

This isn't a failure of the court system. Instead, it's the result of Stingray best practices -- directly encouraged by federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI: let suspects walk rather than discuss the devices in court. But it's inevitable that more and more info on Stingray use will be divulged in court. And it all starts with paper trails like these belated requests for regulatory clearance.

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Filed Under: authorization, canada, stingray, surveillance, warrant