The Canadian government has nevertheless waived a ban on the import, sale and use of the Flipper Zero and similar multi-tools. Instead, she wants to target the misuse of the tool, such as for car theft.
The Agency for Innovation, Science and Economic Development, or ISED, told PCMag on Wednesday that the aim is to ' to prohibit the unlawful use of multi-tools in car thefts'. “ISED is already working with Canadian companies, online retailers and the automotive industry to address this issue,” the government agency said. Specific plans regarding the regulation of the Flipper Zero will be announced at a later date.
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Flipper Devices, the company behind the multi-tool, responded to PCMag that it is happy with the Canadian government's decision. However, it cannot yet imagine what the new policy will look like.
The Flipper Zero multi-tool can read, write and emulate RFID and infrared signals, among other things. Last month, the Canadian government called for a ban on the Flipper Zero, because it would be used to steal cars. According to Flipper Devices, the tool does not work on cars made after the 1990s. The security system of those cars uses the rolling code protocol to unlock them remotely. Each code that system uses to unlock the car can only be used once. Therefore, there is no point in intercepting the code, says Flipper Devices.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, the sale and use of the Flipper Zero are not prohibited, but the tool is no longer available in most web shops . The American Amazon site bans the sale of the multi-tool, because it would be used to clone bank cards. The Flipper Zero could also crash iPhones running iOS 17.2 by exploiting a bug. The Flipper Zero, with the external firmware Flipper Xtreme, was able to use the built-in Bluetooth radio to quickly send a barrage of Bluetooth connection notifications to devices within a radius of about ten meters. Apple fixed the bug late last year.