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I respectfully disagree with the posts approaching this from a “privacy perspective”. While the advice you gave is great, its not the best way to approach this currently.
This is a legal problem, not a privacy problem.
Lets say the OP suddenly replaces all of their electronic devices after noticing surveillance measures, what will the police do? They could immediately file for a warrant to raid his house - citing the replacement of devices as “post-offense conduct” which counts as circumstantial evidence.
See my full comment regarding “doing nothing”. Talking to a lawyer is great as well.
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Yes they do. I don’t care if OP has done anything wrong or not. If you are under investigation, avoiding criminal charges is your priority - especially if you are innocent.
I disagree. It’s a privacy problem that should be solved for or atleast mitigated so it doesn’t become a legal issue. Also, this is not a legal issue for OP. Only for their house mate. Why are you assuming OP is the one under primary surveillance and investigation?
OP has and will always have plausible deniability. I can all but assure even their lawyer if they get one will argue the same.
Everything is circumstantial. A person gets killed on the street. Any car on the same street around the same time will be subject of this and count as circumstantial. Doesn’t mean anything until hard evidence is available.
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Let OP get back and clarify the things we’re talking about (if they want to). Let’s not further speculate unnecessarily.
I’m not, but police rarely make that distinction if you look at other similar cases where this style of surveillance has been used.
I totally agree, there’s no way he would be convicted but raided or arrested? Its possible.
This is not true at all. You can be convicted based on circumstantial evidence alone. See the case R. v. Villaroman which addressed this matter.
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But I do agree that they should speak with a lawyer. We here can only say so much to better their privacy but a lawyer may have some additional advise they may want to act on.
Well, that’s a dangerous precedent. If one is talented enough, they can make a lot look like really good circumstantial evidence for something. This is terrible. I didn’t know about this so I stand corrected.
But this post and the thread does make a case for always having somewhat of an elevated threat model and OPSEC than you think you need. The more or most you can do that you can deal with the inconveniences of, the better (as security and convenience are inversely proportional). Anyways, that’s how I look at it. We’re not all experts here.
Just a disclaimer, I always re-read comments in case there are edits and I always fact check. I have not provided enough details for anyone to provide legal advice and I would never put anyone in that position. This is just a query to point me in the right direction.
I do, and I am taking this very serious. I’d rather start with the worst case scenario and take it from there. I can always take it down a notch if I need to.
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Thanks for the clarification. I do double check posts for edits. This particular point is moot for me because I do not own an Android.
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I agree this is probably in my best interest to do so.
We spoke to the lead detective briefly and informally after the raid on my housemate’s property outside of our house. They were vague and confirmed we are not under suspicion but implied that we must have known what was going on. I’ve never seen anything suspicious.
They asked a few sideways questions about our relationship but it’s obvious from the RCMP presence, the full combat gear and the over the top aggressive nature of how they conducted the raid that drug trafficking is suspected. There were no charges laid because they did not find anything. I’m sure they spent some serious coin, so this is far from over.
I do not want to give too many details, but let’s just say my housemate has been on their radar a long time. I can’t say whether there is a legitimate reason because I have never observed any such activity. Yes they are very antisocial but it’s not illegal to be an asshole.
I discovered the surveillance myself based on my own observations and confirmed by my housemate. There were things the cops knew that could only have been known by someone who personally knew me and my housemate, such as a disgrunted ex/friend/neighbour. I know I am being followed, we were pulled over a block away from home. If it was just a traffic infraction, they would have only asked the driver for ID but they asked both driver and passenger. We don’t do that in Canada. They wanted to know where we were going, and why we went back to the house (I forgot something) and took photos of our ID.
Undercover officers followed me the next day when I went for a walk with a friend. Obviously they think I was trying to move something from the house. I am very concerned that they will surveille my housemate through me or that I could be some how implicated in whatever they think is or is not going on. I personally don’t feel like anything is going on and I am most certainly not involved in any way. I am the most boring person on this planet. I do not drink or smoke or do drugs, my biggest vice is coffee and even that is more decaf. I never leave my house. We are very introverted.
[EDITED: to remove potentially identifying details for my privacy]
We are well aware, they certainly had access to my housemate’s part of the house during the raid so we have been careful not to say anything we did not want them to hear.
That’s what I thought.
We are not using a router, we are using a gateway device that is installed in my housemate’s part of the house under their account. Based on my research, it has proprietary firmware specific to the service provider and I think it’s very difficult to mod, definitely beyond my skillset. Either way, the gateway is lateral and does not seem to extend to my floor of the house making the signal unstable. The ethernet connection works to stream video through apple tv box but I am looking to see if I can get a separate device. I need to find out from the service provider, I don’t have access to the account information.
I may not have the budget for an additional VPN subscription, I already have proton VPN. Could I not just use this? Does it not have a DAITA feature? Is there a specific protocol I should use? I’m not quite sure how to install Proton VPN on the apple box, do I just install the app like any other streaming app? I can prob answer my own questions by trying… sorry…
Thanks I will do so. I will message you about instructions, that would be helpful. My experience with linux is very limited. I will checkout the forum too.
I should have done this but recently just purchased a brand new iPhone which I’m still paying for. But my partner does need a new phone…
Thanks so much for all of your suggestions!!!
This fact finding exercise helps me relax, being informed really does help ease my mind. I like to know how things work and what might come to be.
I don’t expect all of those techniques to be used, those are just some of the possibilities rattling through my mind. That’s just the way my brain works, it will spit out a million computations and I will go through each one to eliminate the ones that are less likely and take precautions against the ones that could be a threat. Some of them I do have credible reason to believe are being used based on personal observations and my previous experience with power-tripping cops. See my replies in previous comments.
Municipal and RCMP. Not in Quebec.
I am aware of this, I am pretty boring and vanilla. Not much to report here. I don’t get out much. I just don’t trust cops to conduct themselves legally.
See previous comment but I strongly suspect drug trafficking.
I will have to look into this, I’ve never had to do such a thing and this is a bit outside of my expertise.
I wasn’t doing anything before and I’m not doing anything now, but obviously very conscious of how my actions may be (mis)perceived. I am not not the target of the surveillance but obviously my actions are being monitored.
Thank you, I find that very helpful to keep in mind.
To clarify any misunderstandings, I am not looking for legal advice. I just want to understand the manner in which I may be surveilled (regardless of legality) and how I can protect my privacy. The only thing I am guilty of is being boring.
I am not under investigation, but I am part of the surveillance due to proximity. I am not under suspicion or guilty of any crimes, but based on how closely my movements are being monitored, it is reasonable to assume they think I might unknowingly move whatever it was they were looking for. That’s the only reason I can think of for why they are interested in my movements.
I am on friendly terms with my housemate and I’d like to keep it that way. We help each other out like any other helpful neighbour would; but we do not hang out on a regular basis and I am not willing to break the law for them (nor have they ever asked me to.)
I am also not stupid. I know how cops work. Intimidation. Lies. Coercion. I am aware that they might try to fabricate some bullshit to coerce me into providing whatever information they think I might have that they could use to get to my housemate, and that is where I need to take precautions to protect myself. I have to get a long with my housemate, I do not want to invite discord into my domestic affairs; AND I do not want to give the cops reason to think I am complicit in whatever they think is going on.
So in conclusion, my problem is more privacy related in the context of this discussion, but I am cognizant that there are indirect legal consequences that I should be aware of. I do appreciate everyone’s feedback. Paranoia and fear feed off the unknown so this conversation really helps me focus on what is an actual threat to my safety and what I can do about it.
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I guess follow the best OPSEC you can and be yourself. Hope the investigation ends soon but given the lengths they are going to, not sure how long this will take. I would move the next chance I get.
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You are not wrong. I have not done a whole lot of research on OPSEC methods but I can tell you I am now bringing myself up to speed. Thank you!
I recently wrote An Opinionated Guide to Privacy Despite Authoritarianism, which is aimed at US readers and mass surveillance. Nonetheless, I explain how to eg set up an OpenWrt router in the second guide. Hopefully that helps.
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Thank you. Otherwise we would be committing a crime by providing aid as to how to hinder criminal investigations 
Thanks, we are using a gateway device installed in my housemate’s suite, not a router. The firmware is proprietary to the service provider so there is no option to install a VPN and I don’t have the skillset to mod. I am trying to find out if I can use a second device to extend the wifi, they do offer some kind of hub, just not sure if I can use a VPN on that or what my options are. Will do some more reading. Thanks for the links!
Ya I am not asking for that!
My understanding is that Gateway devices are quite bad for privacy. The modem + OpenWrt router solution costs a few hundred dollars and may not be compatible with Canadian ISPs, but would be much more secure and private and doesn’t require hardcore modding.
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