Court Tells Ottawa Police to Return Phones After 175 Million Attempts to Crack Passcode

Judge says the court needs to balance the property rights of the accused and the interest in preserving evidence during investigations into criminal activity.

A person uses a cellphone in Ottawa on July 18, 2022. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

An Ontario court decision has put a cap on how many attempts police can make trying to unlock digital devices belonging to an alleged criminal.

The case involved three cellphones that were seized among several other electronic devices as part of an Ottawa Police Service investigation into child pornography in October 2022.