The RCMP in the Lower Mainland have continued to use a tool that allows investigators to track suspects based on the location of their cellphones, despite failing to finalize a policy on how to address significant privacy issues raised about the technology.

Documents obtained through an access-to-information request that took more than 18 months show that between July, 2015, and March, 2021, the RCMP used the Stingray-type technology 112 times, with 57 per cent of those deployments being for drug investigations. The documents included copies of the RCMP’s 2017 interim policy on the use of the technology and a 2020 draft policy.

Advocates for civil liberties and digital privacy have long been concerned about how often and why the technology is being used, and who is approving it.

“It’s the kind of information that should be made available to the public. We should be aware of this and not have to catch up after the fact by having to use niche things” such as filing access-to-information requests, said Meghan McDermott, policy director of the BC Civil Liberties Association.

Read the full story on The Globe and Mail.