On June 13, 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada decided that
Canadians have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their online
activities, and confirmed that a police investigation isn't
enough to give them the "lawful authority" to get
personal information from organizations without a warrant under
privacy laws – though it's not clear what is.
Police asked an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for the identity
of a subscriber associated with an "internet protocol"
(IP) address (a unique string of numbers) connected to online
activities during a criminal investigation – and the ISP gave
it. The police used the information to ultimately charge
Matthew David Spencer. Spencer said the police got his identity and
the evidence without a warrant, breaching his right to be free from
unreasonable search and seizure under the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, and couldn't use any of it. The police said they
didn't need a warrant: PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection
and
