R v Bykovets

This case comes before the Court as of right following a dissent in the Alberta Court of Appeal. 

In September of 2017, police investigated the purchase of virtual gift cards using fraudulent credit card information.  There were two IP addresses of interest which police believed were used in the transactions.  Warrants were executed at both residences associated and the appellant was arrested.   The Appellant was charged with 33 offences relating to firearms and the possession and use of third parties' credit cards and personal information documents. At trial, he argued that his section 8 Charter rights, inter alia, had been violated.

The trial judge held that it was not objectively reasonable to recognise a subjective expectation of privacy in an IP address used by an individual and found no section 8 breach. The Appellant was convicted of 13 counts.  The majority of the Court of Appeal of Alberta agreed with the trial judge in her interpretation of the law governing the section 8 analysis and dismissed the appeal.

Veldhuis J.A., in dissent, would have allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial, holding that the appellant did have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the IP addresses, leading to a section 8 breach.  

The Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada as of right.