On The Wire

Lawyers, Smartphones and Box 23

Invasion of lawyer and client confidentiality by the state in the digital era is increasing with alarming frequency. And the number of cases before Canadian courts involving violations of solicitor-client privilege are also increasing. The law is not the concern. It is well settled. It is the facts of these ...
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Privacy and Historic Text Messages

On December 8, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada released the 6-1 ruling in R v Jones, 2017 SCC 60, concurrently with R v Marakah, 2017 SCC 59, that I discussed in my last post to On The Wire titled The Conversation dated December 30, 2017. In Marakah, the court held ...
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The Conversation

On December 8, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada released the 5-2 ruling in R v Marakah, 2017 SCC 59, that text messages sent and received can, in some cases, attract a reasonable expectation of privacy and therefore can be protected against unreasonable search and seizure under s. 8 of ...
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Constructing Mosaics

On November 28, 2017, the redacted ruling by Chief Justice Paul S. Crampton of the Federal Court of Canada was released in a case where the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) seized personal identification data by the deployment of a cell site simulator without a warrant. A cell site simulator ...
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The ‘Fantastic’ Test in Drug Law

Near a motel. You know the kind of place. Night. Rain. A cigarette lighter flicks in the dark and a pickup pulls out of the parking lot. Two blocks later the police come from nowhere. Maybe a broken tail light? Some kind of infraction. Driver and passenger. No operator's licence. A ...
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Corner’s Call

On November 8, 2017, a jury in Oshawa, Ontario, convicted Keenan Corner of second degree murder in the shooting death of high school buddy, and weed dealing partner, Shabir Niazi. But not without an unusual twist. The case went to the Supreme Court of Canada before the trial. Here's the ...
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Entrapment in Alberta

There has been a recent upswing in entrapment cases before the Alberta courts. I will discuss two where stays of proceedings were entered. One is the unreported ruling of Justice Earl C. Wilson in R v Saggu, Q.B. No. 150883536Q1, dated May 5, 2017, and the other is the decision ...
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The NIT Warrant

Privacy International is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 1990 and based in London. It defends the right to privacy and has litigated or intervened in cases implicating the right to privacy in the courts of the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe including the European Court of Human ...
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The Digital Strip Search

On November 20, 2016, Muhammad Rabbani arrived at London's Heathrow Airport. Mr Rabbani is the international director of CAGE, a British non-governmental organization working to empower communities impacted by the war on terror. He was well known to the authorities. Mr Rabbani was carrying a MacBook Air and an iPhone ...
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The Devil in the Lock Screen

On September 12, 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the iPhone X with facial recognition technology. The device features an edge-to-edge screen without the iconic Touch ID home button. The phone will be unlocked by recognizing the user's face. The next day US Senator Al Franken D/Minn, a ranking member of the ...
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