The Ottawa Citizen reports today on proposals, said to be intended for inclusion in amendments to the Criminal Code intended for the fall, under which “police and security agencies would be able to surreptitiously track unwitting Canadians via their cellphones, BlackBerries and laptop computers, even when the devices are turned off or their location features are disabled”:
The government made the proposal during consultations this year on a legislative package that is anticipated to be unveiled in the fall. The proposal, which was raised by justice officials with groups consulted by the government, would amend the Criminal Code to expand the types of “tracking devices” available to police under a warrant.
The definition of a “tracking device” would be changed to include a computer program, in addition to any other device that can be used to help identify the location of any thing or person.
The new definition of tracking device would take in such ubiquitous products as laptops with wireless Internet connections, cellphones with global positioning systems, and wireless personal digital assistants.
“What they are talking about clearly is devices which have an active and a passive component in the sense that the active component could be controllable by the user who could turn the machine on or off, but the passive device will be built in and accessible to police,” said Richard Rosenberg, a retired University of British Columbia computer science professor and board member of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.