Ontario Police Use Secretive Spyware, Risk Dropping Major Cases

• •Ontario police use powerful spyware to access suspects' smartphones without consent.
• •Agreements allow police to drop cases rather than disclose spyware vendor information.
• •Civil liberties groups criticize the lack of transparency and potential constitutional violations.

Ontario Provincial Police are employing advanced phone-hacking spyware known as on-device investigative tools (ODITs) to access suspects' smartphones. This technology allows police to download data, read encrypted messages, and activate microphones and cameras remotely. To maintain secrecy about the spyware's vendor and capabilities, police have signed agreements to abandon serious criminal cases if required to disclose information. The use of ODITs has raised significant concerns among civil liberties groups, who argue that such secrecy undermines judicial oversight. The software's first notable use was in an auto-theft investigation that resulted in 23 arrests and $9 million in recovered vehicles. Defense lawyers are challenging the constitutionality of the warrants used for these operations, citing a lack of transparency. The RCMP has stated that ODITs are rarely used, but experts highlight the high costs associated with targeting individual devices. The situation continues to evolve as legal challenges and public scrutiny mount.