Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a) of the question, the CRTC fully complied with the production order and provided law enforcement with exact copies of all of the data that the CRTC extracted from the devices.
The CRTC is not legally permitted to keep devices obtained during an investigation indefinitely, and the device owner’s lawyer requested the return of the devices. Given that the devices contained programs, e.g., malware, and data that could have been used for malicious purposes, these files were removed from the devices prior to their return.
Regarding part (b) of the question, given that the devices contained programs, e.g., malware, and data that could have been used for malicious purposes, these files were removed from the devices prior to their return. The files were removed on April 14, 2022.
With regard to part (c), the CRTC is not legally permitted to keep devices obtained during an investigation indefinitely, and the device owner’s lawyer requested the return of the devices. Given that the devices contained programs, e.g., malware, and data that could have been used for malicious purposes, these files were removed from the devices prior to their return. On April 12, 2022, CRTC staff obtained permission from the device owner to remove the files.