In the early hours after someone is reported missing, police have often encountered roadblocks to potentially crucial information: clues to the missing person’s whereabouts held within their cellphone, computer, home and more.That’s because when someone disappears, there is rarely evidence a crime has been committed, a prerequisite for police to seek the court’s permission for a search warrant or personal records to help their investigation.But investigators will now have greater ease accessing potentially critical information. Effective this month, the Missing Person’s Act grants police new powers to obtain warrants or access to records — such as hospital, cellphone or bank documents — without having to provide evidence a crime may have been committed. Obtaining these records when they are needed will “help us develop a missing person’s path or footprint,” said Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders at a news conference Wednesday, announcing the legislation alongside Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones.“I can guaranteed you,” said Saunders, “that this will save lives.”Jones said the legislation — a version of which was first passed in 2018 under the previous Liberal government — strikes the right balance between granting police additional powers and maintaining privacy safeguards, including the requirement that police and the courts consider whether a missing person does not want to be found. That’s a critical consideration, said Brenda McPhail, director of the privacy, technology and surveillance project at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA).“It is important that there is specific recognition in the act that a person who seems to be missing may have chosen to leave, particularly in situations of violence or abuse,” McPhail said in an email Thursday. McPhail said the CCLA generally does not support expansions of police powers but noted that th ...
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