Text messages can be considered private even once received, Supreme Court says
Posted Dec 9, 2017 06:09:00 AM.
Last Updated Dec 9, 2017 06:09:15 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Supreme Court says Canadians can expect the text messages they send to remain private at least in some instances even after the messages reach their destination.
In a potentially significant 5-2 ruling today, the high court set aside the firearms convictions of a Toronto man whose messages were found by police on the mobile phone of an alleged accomplice.
The court says Nour Marakah had a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning the messages, meaning he had a right to challenge the police search of the phone as a violation of his guarantees under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
However, the court cautions that much depends on the facts of a case, and that the outcome might be different in other circumstances.
In a second ruling today, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal of gun and drug convictions in a case where police had a production order to seize text messages stored on a Telus server.