Retired Vancouver police officer Paul McNamara and Ontario RCMP officer Pete Merrifield are speaking out after discovering their phones were secretly hacked by the RCMP using controversial spyware known as an On-Device Investigative Tool (ODIT). The surveillance, they say, occurred while they were merely witnesses—not suspects—in an ongoing foreign interference case involving ex-RCMP officer William Majcher.
McNamara first suspected something was wrong when his phone overheated and locked while he was on vacation in Montreal. Months later, court evidence revealed that both his and Merrifield’s devices were infiltrated by RCMP spyware capable of bypassing encryption, reading messages in real-time, and even activating cameras and microphones remotely.
The pair, who had known Majcher professionally, say they were wrongly implicated in the case and have filed a $5.5 million lawsuit against the federal government, alleging defamation and loss of security clearance.
Canada currently lacks legislation regulating spyware use, and while RCMP claims ODITs are deployed only with judicial authorization in serious cases, a 2024 report and internal documents suggest technical failures and possible misuse—including surveillance on Merrifield’s union phone during collective bargaining talks.
Experts warn that ODITs far surpass traditional wiretapping in scope and intrusiveness. Lawyer Adam Boni says the lack of transparency and oversight is alarming, and the misuse of such powerful tools threatens Canadians’ privacy rights in ways the law has yet to catch up with.
Source: Swifteradio.com
