RCMP COVERTLY ACCESSING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

The RCMP has deployed spyware to access the encrypted communications of targets as far back as 2002, a senior Mountie said Monday afternoon.

Mark Flynn, the RCMP’s assistant commissioner responsible for National Security and Protective Policing, told MPs that between 2002 and 2015, the Mounties deployed “Canadian-made technology” in order to covertly access electronic information.

“As encryption started to be used by targets that we had judicial authorization to intercept, and we were unable to hear the audio, hear the phone calls or see the messages they were sending, that is when we developed the tool and technique to make it possible to intercept those communications,” Flynn said.