‘It’s a bad look’: Calls grow to restrict high-tech car theft devices in wake of W5 investigation

There are new calls to crack down on the sale of high-tech devices that can be used to clone key fobs and steal cars, in the wake of a W5 investigation that found devices that were designed for locksmiths have fallen into the hands of thieves.

And car manufacturers must do more to make sure their cars aren’t vulnerable to the devices, which plug into a car’s computer and generate a new key from scratch, said federal NDP MP Brian Masse.

“It’s a bad look, there’s no doubt,” Masse said in an interview, saying stolen cars from Canada are so prevalent overseas the country is getting a bad reputation internationally.

“There needs to be some responsibility on the car companies about their technology is not strong enough to prevent the criminal element from breaking in and taking advantage of it,” said Masse, who also serves as his party’s innovation, science and industry critic.

The W5 investigation found devices flagged by police to the federal government back in June as being the main method of car thefts remained available online to the average consumer in November.

W5 purchased one of the devices from online retailer Amazon, which said it was entitled to sell it because it remains legal in Canada.

The manufacturer, Autel, said its North American arm only sells to licensed locksmiths. But Amazon’s site offered up a sale from a Chinese company. It’s not clear how that company obtained the device.

Once in our hands, we used it on an SUV in CTV News’ fleet, with its key nowhere nearby, and were able to clone its key in under an hour.

Technology appears to have outpaced the security measures on vehicles, said Ontario radiofrequency expert Michael Walker.

“Somebody came up with the solution and somebody did it and put it on Amazon,” he said.

Radiofrequency expert Michael Walker shows how a receiver attached to his computer can register the signal sent from a car key fob (CTV W5)

In Walker’s basement in a suburb of Toronto, he demonstrated how the signal emitted by the key fob of my car, and the signal emitted by the key fob of a cloned key, were similar. We had cloned the key fob using the Autel device.

“Anybody can go buy those. Those should be restricted to the locksmiths of the world, and the car dealerships,” Walker said.

Walker said he supported cracking down on the final product that makes cloning a key easier for the interested amateur.

But he said government should be cautious of too many restrictions as they could stifle new inventions and experimentation.

“What if we shut that down here and students can’t break thinks, and learn things, and then where are we going to be in 15 years? Do we lose that innovation?” he said.

More than 70,000 vehicles were stolen in 2023, costing insurers some $1.5 billion, according to insurance investigative agency Equite Association. That figure has dropped by about 17 per cent, after a national summit on combatting auto theft.

One of the commitments at the summit was to amend the Radiocommunications Act to regulate devices and assist in removing unregulated ones from the Canadian marketplace, said Audrey Milette, a spokesperson for the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

The ministry is “no considering comments received in developing any restrictions with respect to these devices, and continues to work with Canadian companies, online retailers and the automotive industry on this issue,” Milette said. [should ‘no considering’ be instead either ‘not considering’ or ‘now considering’? ]

The federal government has also introduced new charges in Canada’s criminal code that would make possession of these devices illegal if the person possessing them has intent to steal a vehicle.

Locksmiths, including Yaser Jafar of Hamilton, have said it should be an offence for anyone who is not a licensed locksmith to have one, similar to lock picking tools.

That is the responsibility of the provinces. Ontario solicitor-general Michael Kerzner didn’t answer whether he would endorse a measure like that, but didn’t rule it out.

“We’re going to continue to leave no stone unturned in our fight to get the people that are stealing our autos in jail,” he said at an unrelated news conference on Thursday.

In an interview, NDP critic Masse mused about other methods that could be used to increase auto security, including requiring car companies to disclose theft rates in their advertising, or requiring cars to go back to using a physical key on top of a key fob signal.

“If some vehicles are really vulnerable to this, then they should really go for having the requirement of a physical key until the auto companies get their technology straight,” he said.

Car manufacturers have said they are attempting to improve the security of their vehicles, including rolling out app-based systems that can immobilize a vehicle whether or not its key fob is inside.

For tips on car theft, or any other story, please email Jon Woodward.