CRTC uses forensic tools sparingly, ETHI committee told

The CRTC has forensic investigative tools but deploys them rarely, the House of Commons Committee on Access to Information, Ethics and Privacy was told Thursday. The panel is continuing its investigation into the use of tools that can extract data from personal devices. Steve Harroun, chief compliance and enforcement officer with the commission, told MPs that his forensic section employs fewer than 20 people. The software necessary to intercept data has been used twice since 2022 and a handful of times in the last decade. “The CRTC is one of three agencies, along with the Competition Bureau and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, that work to promote and enforce compliance with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL),” he explained. “We take the use of digital forensic tools very seriously,” he continued in French. “We follow strict legislative and judicial parameters when using these tools.” Every time the tools have been deployed, a judicial warrant was obtained first, he added. At Tuesday’s session of the committee, witnesses maintained that the tools are not spyware and are not used for broad surveillance of Canadian citizens. That assertion was repeated at the Thursday hearing. Appearing alongside Harroun was Eric Ferron of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). “CRA does not use spyware tools to monitor its employees or Canadians,” the director general of the criminal investigations directorate stated. “The criminal investigations program does use the technological tools that are the topic of today’s discussion.” The agency also gets warrants before using the tools. It produced a privacy impact assessment (PIA) for the technology in 2016 which was updated last year. The CRTC has had a PIA in place for a decade. CRA uses its program to detect cases of tax evasion or tax fraud. In the committee’s morning meeting, two government departments outlined how they use the technology. One of the reasons for the deployment is the advance in how stakeholders operate. “Historically, harvesting and reporting of fishery resources was done using paper forms such as logbooks and charts,” Brent Napier, acting director general, conservation and protection at the department of fisheries and oceans, noted. “As technology has advanced, harvesters have adopted new technology such as chart plotters, electronic logs and electronic communication devices into their harvesting operations.” The department of environment has a dedicated squad of employees who administer environmental rules using the software. “Our digital forensic lab is staffed by a small number of specialized analysts,” chief enforcement officer Donald Walker said. “These employees are highly trained professionals, first as enforcement officers and then as digital forensic experts.” Walker said his ministry consulted with the Privacy Commissioner in June 2022 on the proper use of the technology. A final PIA should be ready by the end of this fiscal year, he added. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca

CRTC uses forensic tools sparingly, ETHI committee told

News | February 8, 2024

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CRTC uses forensic tools sparingly, ETHI committee told

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