Streaming Position

In a nutshell, it is illegal in Canada to receive or divulge communications that any individual could reasonably assume should be confidential.  Included in this category are phone calls between parties (two or more), or police discussions over secure encrypted radio frequencies.

Analog and digital scanners are legally sold in Canada, and are approved for use by the federal department of communications.  Unaltered, these legal scanners are unable to receive any cell phone frequencies, or police and other security agency encrypted communications.

There are several government Acts addressing this issue, including the Radiocommunications Act and the Privacy Act.  A judicial ruling is never rendered using a single Act as basis, disregarding any other Canadian Act,  or the Canadian Charter of Rights itself.

The distribution of scanned Air Traffic Control, Police, Fire and EMS frequencies is permitted in Canada so long as the content is not deemed to be ‘personal information’ as defined by the Privacy Act. To be considered personal information, the information must be about an individual, that individual must be identifiable, and the information must be recorded.

Whether or not an argument can be made an aircraft registration or a police unit number identifies an individual (unlikely), or hearing a Controller or Policeman’s voice identifies that individual (even more unlikely), this web site neither records, nor makes available any transcripts of recordings. The information broadcast through this web site complies with the Canadian Privacy Act and only deals with frequencies a user should reasonably be expected to know are available within the ‘public domain.’