But a spokesperson says the force switched to equipment “not capable” of intercepting private communications in 2017. The OPP’s IMSI catcher technology appears to have had the capability of intercepting the private communications of a single, targeted device. Some IMSI catchers can not only intercept calls and texts but edit and reroute them, and can remotely activate a cellphone’s microphone. It gave investigators from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada access to the devices to confirm that they were not capable of intercepting private communications. The force will not disclose the number of IMSI catchers it owns, because that information “is operational in nature.”

Source: thestar December 07, 2019 12:11 UTC