TORONTO – The Ontario Superior Court in Brampton is expected to issue a ruling this week that could have far reaching effects on cellphone privacy.
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Justice John Sproat heard arguments from Rogers and Telus last summer pertaining to “tower dump” production orders issued by Peel Regional Police asking the two companies to provide communication records related to 21 cellular towers or sites. That would have required the telcos to disclose the personal information of about 40,000 customers.
Police use such orders as a technique to get all call-detail records from specific cellphone towers, at a certain point in time, in the hopes of turning up information relevant to a criminal investigation, continues the report.
While several other telecom providers complied with the orders, Rogers and Telus filed Charter of Rights applications asking the judge to find that the orders amounted to unreasonable search and seizure, and also issue general guidance on how the courts should approach tower-dump production orders in the future.
