Australian National Review – RCMP lifts veil on use of emerging technologies to fight crime

The RCMP says it has installed tools on digital devices to covertly collect electronic evidence in 32 cases over the past five years.

The offences investigated in these cases from 2017 to 2022 related to national security, drug trafficking, financial crimes and other serious matters.

The national police released the statistics on Tuesday in a report detailing several operational technologies, some of which are little known to the public.

It includes information about remote-controlled drones, facial recognition software and tools for processing large amounts of data.

“To keep pace with criminals and maintain public safety, the RCMP must continually adapt, innovate, and utilize new and emerging technologies,” the report said. “At the same time, these technologies must be used in a responsible and proportionate manner.”

The report states that the use of new or potentially invasive technologies by law enforcement agencies must carefully consider privacy, ethical issues, legal issues and other public interest considerations.

The RCMP says it is using so-called on-device investigative tools to collect private communications and other information that would otherwise be encrypted, after court approval.

The device’s on-board tools allow police officers to intercept conversations, collect and store data, take computer screenshots and keyboard recordings, and activate a device’s microphone and camera functions.

“This technique is only used when other investigative methods to collect evidence have proven ineffective,” the report said.

The RCMP uses cell tower simulators to mimic cell towers so that any cell phones and other mobile devices in the vicinity can connect to the cell towers.

The Mounties use simulators, with judicial approval, in high-priority investigations involving national security, serious and organized crime and other criminal offenses, the report said. They are also used in urgent circumstances, such as a missing person or kidnapping case.

The simulators do not intercept private communications, such as phone calls or text messages, but unique alphanumeric identifiers tied to mobile devices. The RCMP must then seek additional court approval to obtain personal subscriber information tied to a mobile device.

From 2017 through 2022, the RCMP deployed cellular site simulator technology in 46 investigations, including 11 in 2022 and 19 in 2021.

Drones equipped with cameras are used for aerial surveillance of major crime scenes and traffic accidents, as well as for search and rescue missions and emergency response operations by the RCMP.

The police remotely piloted aircraft program, as it is formally known, involves a fleet of 399 registered aircraft and nearly 300 trained and certified RCMP pilots across Canada.

A privacy impact assessment establishes protocols for the processing of data collected by drones.

Drone surveillance that infringes on a reasonable expectation of privacy would require prior judicial authorization, the report said. “For example, using a remotely piloted aircraft system to capture video of the backyard of a private residence showing a suspect under investigation would require a warrant.”

The RCMP’s use of drones has increased steadily in recent years, with 1,194 operational missions conducted in 2022.

According to the report, data collected by drones is being assessed to determine whether it has evidentiary or administrative value, or whether it is transient.

“The RCMP does not currently use facial recognition technology on photos or videos captured by remotely piloted aircraft systems.”

Police recognise the power of facial recognition, which uses advanced algorithms to process images of faces and analyse biometric features to verify identities.

“Its improper use can have a negative impact on privacy and other fundamental rights, such as the risks associated with unintended data distortions and false identifications,” the report said.

According to police, the technology can help identify criminal suspects, missing persons and children at risk of online sexual exploitation.

The RCMP will use a type of facial recognition technology called “face matching,” a functionality built into certain software applications used to process, sort and analyze large amounts of images and video, the report said.

“The RCMP will only use this technology to process evidence lawfully obtained during an investigation.”

However, police expect to use facial identification technologies in the future to help investigators identify criminals and victims of crime, the report adds. “These types of operational technologies will only be used under specific circumstances in accordance with RCMP policy and Canadian law.”

The report acknowledges that the use of artificial intelligence by police raises privacy and ethical concerns regarding potential bias.

It is emphasized that to ensure that AI is used legally, ethically and responsibly, it is important to consider, among other things, that any system must be transparent about the way it makes decisions.

“It should be easy for people to understand how a machine learning algorithm arrived at a particular decision, making it easier to identify and correct errors or biases.”

A federal advisory body recently called on Canada’s security agencies to publish detailed descriptions of their current and planned uses of artificial intelligence systems and software applications.

The National Security Transparency Advisory Group also urged the administration to look at possible changes to legislation being considered by Parliament to ensure oversight of federal agencies’ use of AI.