Technology has actually improved the lives of Canadians, and we've adopted technology more quickly than most nations. We spend the most time online. But with the advancements in technology also come opportunities for criminals and terrorists who can use that technology as well.
Investigating crime in the digital age is particularly challenging for law enforcement when it comes to our ability to collect evidence, and there are a number of barriers: whether we have the ability to intercept certain types of information, the use of advanced encryption when we know that evidence exists, the lack of data-retention standards in Canada, things like the Cloud, and the fact that evidence may be stored outside of Canada's jurisdiction.
Even with judicial authorization, even when we've gone to a judge and convinced a judge that we believe that evidence exists at a specific location, and we convince a judge that we have the authority to go search, we are impeded by things like encryption. In fact, one of the biggest barriers to advancing investigations in the digital age is encryption.
I'm not against encryption, because to me encryption is the same idea as police advising people to lock their doors and protect their belongings. But when it comes to the public's expectation of policing, if someone is actually committing a crime in a certain dwelling or in a building, and there's information that the crime exists or there's evidence of that, there's an expectation from the public that we would go in, and get that evidence, and pursue the investigation. In the current digital environment, we are severely encumbered by the inability for us to get past encryption.
In fact, it's recognized even by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. This is not just a question of encryption in national security cases; it's a question of fraud, identity theft, and it's seen throughout the policing community. One of the resolutions that was passed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police called on the federal government to enact some sort of legislation that would give police the authority to go to a judge and seek an order that would compel someone to give their password.
In the context of law enforcement, we don't have an authority, such as CBSA has in the border zone, which the court has recognized as a unique environment. We have to seek authority and judicial authorization to obtain certain authorities to compel the production of information. While it's controversial, it's one of the most significant barriers we're confronted with today. I think the response will have to be measured and transparent, and it will have to include things like safeguarding rights, and accountability when it comes to police using some sort of coercive powers, if that's the direction the government so chooses to go.