Amid revelations that the RCMP has remotely and covertly accessed mobile devices, Ron Diebert, director of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, said the federal government should be transparent about its procurement of such technology. It should not, he added, “purchase from and help enrich firms” that sell to foreign regimes “that threaten Canada’s values and security.” Policymakers should consider a ban on the tools’ use and impose “stringent and effectively enforced import and export controls,” said Brenda McPhail, director of the privacy, technology and surveillance program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The two were speaking at the House of Commons ethics committee on Tuesday. (The Logic)

Talking point: On Monday, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and senior RCMP officials declined to tell the committee what technology the force has used in at least 32 investigations since 2017. The Citizen Lab has previously identified cases of foreign governments using spyware to surveil people in Canada, and using Canadian-made technology to spy on people in their own countries. Last year, Public Safety Canada consulted on establishing an export control list, although that would have been based on the buyer, not the vendor or the technology.