To me, R. v. Spencer is crucial because it determines what the test is for personal information on the Internet. The test is not what the information is but what it reveals. Hence, if all you have is, say, an IP address, it's not the phone book. You cannot take it in a static form and say it's just a little number. That equates to my saying, “Please give me the key to your house”, and you say, “No”, and I say, “Why not? It's just a little piece of metal.” It's a piece of metal that lets me go into your house.
On October 6th, 2016. See this statement in context.