Text messages can be considered private even once received, Supreme Court says
OTTAWA — Canadians can expect the texts they send to remain private — at least in some cases — even after the messages reach their destination, the Supreme Court declared Friday in setting aside the firearms convictions of a man whose sent messages were uncovered by police.
In a potentially significant 5-2 ruling, the high court set aside the convictions against Nour Marakah, whose messages were found by Toronto police on the mobile phone of an alleged accomplice.
The court said Marakah had a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning the messages, meaning he had a right to challenge the police search of the phone as a violation of his guarantees under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In her reasons for the majority, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin noted that Marakah was the author of the text messages introduced as evidence against him, that he expected the electronic conversation to remain private and that he asked recipient Andrew Winchester numerous times to delete the messages.