Ben Spurr has an update on a privacy travesty that has been going on for about two years:
Law enforcement officers are increasingly seeking access to personal information stored on transit riders’ Presto fare cards, with requests for the data spiking by 47 per cent in 2018 compared to the year before.
And while Metrolinx, the provincial agency that controls Presto, only acceded to a minority of the requests, in 22 instances related to law enforcement investigations or suspected offences the agency divulged card users’ information without requiring a warrant or court order, a practice that has troubled rights groups since its was first exposed by the Star two years ago.
Read more on The Star.
But over on Twitter, law professor Lisa Austin offered a possible justification/explanation:
The disclosures are about crimes on their property. OCA in R v Ward said that a telecom has legitimate interests in voluntary disclosure where the investigation involves the criminal misuse of its services. Maybe that’s what they are using. Not so convincing. https://t.co/bHXkIDZa3I
— Lisa Austin (@Lisa_M_Austin) February 5, 2019