Government agencies are benefiting from vulnerabilities in software used by Canadian citizens

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

Canada’s RCMP has finally come clean and admitted that they have been using: hacking, digital, and malware software to invade the privacy of Canadian citizens for a while now.

The RCMP would like to have us believe that this only happens when there are serious crimes involved and also with consent from a judge, but with technology being the way it is, who is to say that this is true?

This admission came after a Conservative MP reportedly asked what government programs were used to gather information on Canadians, “This is a kind of capability that they have done everything possible to keep incredibly quiet,” said U of T senior research associate Christopher Parsons.

Again, the RCMP reports that this technology was only used on certain criminals 10 times between 2018 and 2020. “This is a remarkable finding and, for the first time, publicly reveals that the RCMP is using spyware to infiltrate mobile devices, as well as the broad capabilities of their spyware.” Parsons continues, saying that security experts have been aware of these capabilities, but that this is the first time the RCMP has admitted it. He added that this “Is the cleanest, most straightforward explanation of what they’re capable of doing that I’m aware of.”

It is easy to believe that this is only for criminals, but as Canadians, we are waking up to the grim reality that Canada is not how it seems. We are watching what we see as democracy, slowly transitioning into a governmental style most often seen in the East. It appears that this technology is being used to persecute any opposing voices including journalists in this country.

The private notes, messages, your thoughts, your feelings all of that, that is safe right? Nope! The RCMP officers can read your email, check your text in real-time, and even go through your family photos just for the fun of it. This is exactly the type of spyware that is being used on us, all in the name of fighting crime.

The RCMP’s excuse for this invasion of privacy is that it has become harder and harder to find things on criminals these days. They have gone high-tech too, so the RCMP has to use these tools to step their game up as well.

Just in case you are wondering, here are some more things the RCMP can have access to: phones, videos, calendar entries, financial records, audio recordings, private communications, and photographic images of persons, places, and activities viewable by the camera(s) built into the targeted device.

I guess you can see why those who donated to the truckers were victimized for their generosity.

Again, if you are wondering if all this is true, the answer is yes. This police agency outlined the techniques used by its Covert Access and Intercept Team in a document introduced in the House of Commons sometime in June.

In conclusion, some of us may be using faulty apps on our devices that profess to offer us hacking protection.

Parsons said, “It’s concerning that government agencies are benefiting from vulnerabilities in software used by their citizens, which they have an incentive not to correct. Rather than going out and saying, ‘Hey, this is a problem, we should fix it,’ they say, ‘Oh, this is great. We’re going to exploit it.”

This should serve as a reminder to citizens that we can never be too cautious with our devices and with the things that we store on them. It is always best to use an external hard drive if you need to store your important information.