Information & Ethics committee  If I may, I'll provide a clarification. You referred to the fact that we keep everything on our cellphones, such as our bank account information. With respect to the CBSA, as I explained in my opening remarks, we ask for the password to unlock the phone, but we put it in airplane mode.

Information & Ethics committee  Our officers do not operate on the basis of suspicion alone. They have to identify offences. If we had suspicions, we could document them, but we would not go any further in searching a telephone. We would not ask the person to activate the WiFi so that we could check other things.

Information & Ethics committee  If the agency believed that such examinations were not worthwhile, we would stop doing them. Unfortunately, we find child pornography and propaganda material on phones. In addition, in the case of people who said that they have not acquired anything on their trips, we find receipts on their phones that show otherwise.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, that has happened before.

Information & Ethics committee  I wouldn't be able to tell you when we started doing that. I do not have that information with me. In this day and age, the use of those devices is widespread. Really, someone who does not have a cellphone is the exception. However, with the permission of the chair, I could check when we started using this practice at our checkpoints.

Information & Ethics committee  I asked my team to find the mechanism that helps us gather that information. Since the public is very interested in this type of activity at the agency, I asked that we be able to keep statistics rigorously in order to make the information public. The data I can provide is more anecdotal rather than rooted in the reality that our officers experience on a daily basis.

Information & Ethics committee  It depends. We act on a case-by-case basis. In most cases, people co-operate with the authorities at the border. However, in general, an officer may order the disclosure of the password and, if the person refuses and the officer has good reason to believe that there may be prohibited material on the phone, there may be an arrest and perhaps even an appearance in court.

Information & Ethics committee  I know the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has received complaints. I could ask my colleague Mr. Mundie to respond.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, unfortunately, it's very difficult for me to comment on U.S. policies and legislation, so I wouldn't be able to offer any comments on your question.

Information & Ethics committee  We engage with colleagues from U.S. border protection on making sure that any agreements we have in place and the rules under which we share information and how we protect it are respected. Any information that we share with the U.S. would be managed through those MOUs and treaty.

Information & Ethics committee  I don't know about the rules that apply on travellers entering the U.S. I'm sorry.

Information & Ethics committee  As for CBSA, I think it's important to address the myth that we often go into the personal phone of travellers. This is not the case. We conduct our examination in a progressive fashion. As we've built elements to go further in the questioning and the examination, that will eventually lead us, if we have enough grounds, to ask for a cellphone and ask the traveller to provide us with the password to be able to look into it.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. On behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency, I am pleased to be here to contribute to your ongoing discussions regarding privacy at Canada's airports and borders. With me today is Robert Mundie, acting vice-president of the corporate affairs branch and the agency's chief privacy officer.

Public Safety committee  It could be, yes, and again, those cases are very specific. Sorry about that, just before dinner, but it is the reality.

Public Safety committee  That's a very specific case. I would have to think about it. If we were to conduct that search, I've seen instances where we detain people up to 24 hours to do a bowel movement.