The question of whether IP addresses are, or are not, personal information over which individuals have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” has been a vexing one in all democratic countries. In March 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada answered the question in the affirmative. In R. v. Bykovets, a narrow majority of the court found that Canadians do have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their IP addresses. When conducting online investigations, police must obtain judicial authorization before accessing them from third party organizations.(1)

Using similar wording as the US Fourth Amendment, Section 8 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.” For Canadian courts, application of Section 8 involves a two-step analysis: 1) has there been a search or a seizure; and 2) if so, was the search or seizure “reasonable”?