Pivot says VPD won’t comment on if it has controversial Stingray

All the Pivot Legal Society wanted to know was whether the Vancouver Police Department had purchased or wanted to get a controversial surveillance device known as the StingRay.

The community group was surprised when the VPD refused its Freedom of Information request to disclose documents, or even acknowledge the possible existence of the device.

A StingRay can simulate a cell tower and connect to mobile phones and even intercept calls and text messages.

In a Sept. 11 letter to Pivot, the VPD said it could not “provide access to the requested information” on the grounds that it could “harm the effectiveness of investigative techniques and procedures currently used, or likely to be used, in law enforcement.”

Pivot lawyer Douglas King said his group has appealed the VPD’s response to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

The appeal says Pivot was not requesting details of how the VPD was using the device if in fact it has it, only whether or not it’s in use in the city.

“It is unclear how simple disclosure of the acquisition of the device, or the terms of purchase, could possible lead to harm,” King said in the appeal.

He told The Vancouver Sun Wednesday that Pivot made the request after learning that StingRays were in use in several U.S. jurisdictions and seeing “the controversies that hit because of that.”

The company that makes the device has insisted that agencies purchasing it sign a clause that they won’t disclose they have it, King said.

“We were just kind of curious to see if Vancouver had made any movements towards getting the device or whether they already had it. And it was just a simple FOI request. We were pretty surprised when we got the results,” he said.

He said the public has a right to know whether the VPD is using the controversial technology.

“It is part of this larger conversation that is happening across the country about privacy rights and what role the government has in surveillance and what the limitations of that are. The information needs to be disclosed so the public can have that conversation. And the judiciary needs to be brought into that conversation too,” he said.

Micheal Vonn, of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said the refusal to provide information suggests the VPD is using the devices.

“It is totally unacceptable that the VPD are not willing to be accountable for the use of such devices and the rights violations that are likely to flow from their use,” she said.

Vancouver Police could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

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