A Barebones Guide to Surveillance, Counter Surveillance, and Bug Sweeping.
CAUTION: Rainy Day PIS and it’s representatives are not lawyers and, nothing in this entry or on this website as a whole should be considered as legal advice. Rainy Day PIS always strongly encourages their clients and readers to consult with their own legal aide before considering avenues of surveillance for their particular cases, or hiring a private investigator in general.
On this entry of our Investigator’s Gazette, we’re going to take a look at the art of surveillance. This entry will serve as a “barebones” guide to understanding what the term means, and how most surveillance is carried out.
Pictured Above: A Rainy Day PIS investigator sporting a woodland style ghillie suit exiting the surveillance area after a completed case, walking away from a particularly beautiful horizon.
Surveillance takes on many forms, and today we’re going to take a look at all of them. Though our featured image today is our head investigator leaving a rural surveillance case donned in some interesting ghillie suit attire, unfortunately for you as a reader [but fortunately for us investigators], not every case is as difficult to require such measures. However, Each case is unique and requires specific planning that though isn’t as entertaining to think about as investigator’s masquerading as bushes, is equally if not more important to the integrity of the evidence the investigator gathers.
As aforementioned, there are many different types of surveillance, including but not limited to social media surveillance, device specific surveillance, and field surveillance. Today’s entry will focus on field surveillance, however we will offer a quick explanation of the prior two types.
Social media surveillance is when an investigator will gather as much information about the different accounts a subject maintains on different social media platforms, and track as well as aggregate all of the entries that they post on those platforms. To demonstrate the usefulness of this type of surveillance, some employers like to maintain this type of investigation in order to better detect if an employee is acting inappropriately while representing the company online, or if they are posting negative claims regarding the company, or even to ensure the subjects are not bragging about committing illegal acts in regards to the company online.
Device specific surveillance comes in many forms, however most recognizable to the average person would involve terms such as wiretapping, vehicle GPS tracking, or spyware. While many of the aforementioned device specific surveillance techniques are illegal, some fall into either a legal grey area, or are legal given specific parameters. For example, as of the writing of this article, wiretapping is illegal in Ontario; however, as a “one-party” province, only one party [or person] who are included in a conversation needs to consent to an audio recording device being active to make the situation a legal one. As for tracking a vehicle with a hidden GPS device, consent is the deciding factor once again; the GPS tracker may be legally placed so long as the sole owner of the vehicle consents and is aware of the device being there. This is useful if the sole owner of the vehicle allows other parties to operate it, and would like to know where those parties are traveling to and from. In regards to spyware, spyware is fully illegal in Ontario, however the situation becomes different if the person who owns a particular device [such as a phone, tablet, or computer] and pays the bills for that specific device consents to the spyware being added.
If you have reason to suspect you’ve fallen victim to one of these ongoing surveillance techniques, Rainy Day PIS is also always available to preform counter surveillance measures [commonly known as “bug-sweeping”] and guide clients through the correct avenues to reporting illicit actions taken against clients to the appropriate governing bodies.
Now that we’ve covered other types of surveillance, let’s discuss the main subject: field surveillance. Field surveillance involves an investigator attending an area or site to observe and/or document a specific subject. Sometimes a situation will call the investigator simply to ascertain if a subject is attending, staying at, or leaving a location, but generally cases will necessitate investigator’s to follow and track a subject to document their daily activities. Though surveillance can occur on foot, in a vehicle, or while stationary, typically surveillance occurs in a vehicle; specifically called an investigator’s “surveillance vehicle”. The investigator will park with a line of sight of the subject’s location, and when needed, follow the subject as they leave either in their vehicle or on foot. The investigator, if required, will usually film as much as they legally, tactically, and practically can. This footage is then used as evidence for clients, generally in legal cases.
As an individual, know your rights and how to differentiate a private investigator from a stalker. Though for your own safety it is very much discouraged to approach suspicious strangers in suspicious vehicles, if you are wary of a vehicle that you believe to be following you, feel comfortable calling your local law enforcement agency to report the individual and their vehicle. If it is deemed safe to do so, for example if you have law enforcement agents standing by, you may inform the investigator that you are aware of their investigation and that they must cease their investigative efforts. If the individual is indeed a private investigator, and not a stalker, informing them that you would like them to stop investigating you is called a “burn”. When an investigator is burned, they must immediately halt their investigative efforts; any further investigation constitutes whats called a “hard follow” or “hard burn” in the investigative industry, but in real life legal terms, potentially constitutes “harassment”. Remember to document all interactions with the investigator, including when you first informed them that you would like them to stop following you in order to report them to the police. It is important to note that if you inform one investigator you would like them to cease their investigation, another investigator is still permitted to continue the investigation. If possible, if you can collect the name of the agency conducting the investigation, you may be able to directly consult with them and ask them to cease their investigative efforts; however this is unproven and unsubstantiated, and should be discussed with your legal counsel. Even if that agency is barred from investigating you, another investigation agency could just as easily be hired.
If you believe you’re being followed by a private investigator, please don’t be afraid to inquire with Rainy Day PIS to preform counter-surveillance. Remember, surveillance is not always lawful; there are certain conditions where it is illegal for an individual to continue following or documenting you, such as if you’ve asked them to stop, or if they are recording children without the consent of their parents or guardians. If you believe you’re the subject of an illegal surveillance operation or are being stalked and would like your area monitored by a trained industry professional, contact Rainy Day PIS to keep a watchful eye on your surroundings. Rainy Day PIS can also collect evidence if the offender enters the area that may potentially be of aid to local law enforcement or your lawyer.
Either way, Rainy Day PIS is proud to continue being a key component in keeping our communities safe; because that’s just the Rainy Day way.