SCC Affirms Individuals May Have Expectation Of Privacy In Electronic Communications

On December 8, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its decision in two cases concerning individuals' reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages and other electronic communications. In R. v. Marakah¹ and R. v. Jones,² the Supreme Court of Canada held that an individual can reasonably expect his or her text messages will remain private even after those messages are received by another person or stored on the server of a telecommunications provider. Marakah and Jones both deal with the constitutional right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure however the Supreme Court's analysis has implications for employees' expectations of privacy in the workplace.

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