Gone Opaque? An Analysis of Hypothetical IMSI Catcher Overuse in Canada

141 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2017

See all articles by Christopher A. Parsons

Christopher A. Parsons

University of Toronto, Munk School of Global Affairs, Citizen Lab

Tamir Israel

University of Ottawa - Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC)

Date Written: August 2016

Abstract

This analytical report, Gone Opaque? An Analysis of Hypothetical IMSI Catcher Overuse in Canada, examines a class of surveillance devices called ‘cell site simulators’, and which are commonly referred to as ‘IMSI Catchers’, ‘Digital Analyzers’, ‘cell grabbers’, and ‘mobile device identifiers’ or by brand names such as ‘Stingray’, DRTBOX and ‘Hailstorm’.

IMSI Catchers allow state agencies to intercept communications from mobile devices and are used primarily to identify otherwise anonymous individuals associated with a mobile device or to track them. These surveillance devices are not new – their use by state agencies spans decades. However, the ubiquity of the mobile communications devices in modern day life, coupled with the plummeting cost of IMSI Catchers, has led to a substantial increase in the frequency and scope of IMSI Catcher use. As the devices are highly intrusive in nature, their surreptitious and uncontrolled use poses an insidious threat to privacy.

Broadly, the report investigates the surveillance capabilities of IMSI Catchers, state efforts (and civil society counter-efforts) to prevent any information relating to IMSI Catchers from becoming public, and the legal and policy framework that governs the use of these devices in state surveillance contexts. While this report principally focuses on Canadian state agencies, it draws on comparative examples from other jurisdictions, notably the United States and to some degree Germany. The report concludes with a series of recommended transparency and control mechanisms (primarily legal) designed to properly constrain the use of these devices and to temper their more intrusive features. Structurally, the report is divided into four sections relating to technical capacities, transparency, policy controls and best practices.

Keywords: canada, germany, united states, interception, surveillance, privacy, IMSI Catcher, law, transparency, accountability, police

Suggested Citation

Parsons, Christopher A. and Israel, Tamir, Gone Opaque? An Analysis of Hypothetical IMSI Catcher Overuse in Canada (August 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2901522 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2901522

Christopher A. Parsons (Contact Author)

University of Toronto, Munk School of Global Affairs, Citizen Lab ( email )

Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Tamir Israel

University of Ottawa - Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) ( email )

University of Ottawa Faculty of Law - Common Law
57 Louis Pasteur St.
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
Canada

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
271
Abstract Views
2,103
Rank
205,332
PlumX Metrics