Bernice Karn, Stephen Selznick, and Misha Apel’s article “SCC Weighs in on IP Addresses as Personal Information – But Does the Answer Help?” has been republished by LexisNexis in the May 2024 edition of Internet and E-Commerce Law in Canada.
By a recent 5/4 split decision in a criminal matter, the Supreme Court of Canada found that a reasonable expectation of privacy attaches to an IP address and that a request by police for an IP address is a search for which judicial authorization must be obtained.
This article looks at the relevancy of this decision for companies collecting IP addresses in the normal course of business.