National security cited as B.C. drone engineer's devices seized

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has issued an unusual order allowing the seizure of electronic devices from a former employee of a Lower Mainland company that specializes in anti-drone technology, amid concerns that China or Russia may attempt to access military secrets.

Documents from a partially sealed civil court file reveal that in early September, nine individuals—comprising bailiffs, lawyers, and representatives from Burnaby-based Skycope Technologies—arrived at the man's home to confiscate laptops, phones, and storage cards.

Skycope obtained the order against the former employee, referred to as XL, during a closed-door hearing where the company claimed the electrical engineer had shared confidential information with a foreign competitor potentially associated with hostile state actors.

Justice Neena Sharma noted in her ruling, “It is significant in this particular case that the potential harm from the disclosure of information is not limited only to [Skycope Technologies]. I also have evidence of the potential harm to Canada's national security interests.”

Skycope is pursuing civil proceedings against XL to prevent him from disclosing company secrets and to require him to delete and destroy all confidential information in his possession.

Recently made public redacted copies of the court file indicate that the order to enter XL's residence was issued without his prior knowledge. Upon receiving a copy of the order, he was also provided with a list of lawyers to contact.

In a statement to the CBC on Tuesday, Ross McGowan, the lawyer for XL, asserted that XL "both denies any wrongdoing and denies any intention of committing any wrongdoing."

The case is situated within the competitive realm of advanced anti-drone technology, which involves “detecting, identifying, and neutralizing drones that enter unauthorized airspace.”

Skycope CEO Hamidreza Boostanimehr detailed in an affidavit that his company has developed "sector-leading" technology capable of cracking the radio frequency protocols of numerous drones, creating a highly coveted "drone library" that Skycope can use to identify and counteract various drone models.

Boostanimehr stated, “Drones have a wide variety of applications. They are used by hobbyists, and you might see them flying in a public park, but there are also many commercial and industrial users. There are also many more sinister uses for drone technology: drones can interfere with airspace at airports and disrupt air traffic control; they can drop contraband behind prison walls; they can conduct air strikes on military and civilian targets, and they facilitate illegal surveillance, among other activities. Those looking to combat those uses form a substantial portion of our end users.”

XL, who joined the company in 2018 after earning a PhD in electrical and computer engineering from Dalhousie University, played a crucial role in expanding the drone library.

On August 16, XL resigned, reportedly telling Boostanimehr that he had accepted a 50% salary increase from a company he claimed was "not an anti-drone company in the way they represented themselves."

Boostanimehr expressed his reservations, stating, “This gave me pause, as it was not a clear denial. I pressed him further, and he assured me that he was not leaving Skycope to go to another anti-drone company. I remained suspicious.”

Just three days later, Boostanimehr and a colleague accessed a workstation that XL frequently used. They discovered his personal email was open and found "multiple email exchanges using his Gmail address with a company... located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates."

According to Justice Sharma's ruling, XL was accused of disclosing confidential details during a job interview with that company, including "one particular drone protocol which Skycope received in confidence from the Department of National Defence."

The judge noted that XL's new employer is believed to have a parent company that serves as a military and defense contractor in the UAE and has “publicly stated its willingness to supply products to Russia” and “to support Chinese and Russian defense entities through trade.”

Skycope reinforced its request for the order to enter XL's home with an affidavit from Calvin Christie, a former RCMP officer specializing in transnational and foreign threat networks. Christie pointed out that XL, a Chinese citizen, graduated from an institution known for its ties to China's state security agency. He highlighted that China has enacted laws that may compel its citizens, including Chinese-Canadians, to share intelligence.

Christie warned that living and working in the UAE poses a “high-security risk” to XL, stating, “I believe there is a high probability that the employee will be targeted by intelligence agencies for other anti-drone technology documents and/or knowledge that he may have in his possession. Should he be identified as a person of interest by intelligence agencies, I assess there to be a very high probability that the employee would be persuaded to cooperate.”

Skycope lawyer David Wotherspoon told the CBC that now that the order to seize XL's devices has been executed, the legal proceedings can proceed like any other civil claim, albeit with extraordinary implications. “It is an extraordinary lawsuit in that the technology is drone detection. The business of Skycope, which is a Canadian company, their technology is used by military, police, and correctional facilities to identify and disable drones,” he explained.

Wotherspoon emphasized that the potential military applications of the technology elevate the case to one involving national security. He noted that military and police authorities have not been informed of the claims due to the sealing order, which restricted their ability to share information with relevant authorities. However, the allegations are now part of the public record for anyone who wishes to review them.