What is the test for obtaining consent to search a personal computer?

Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides that everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure. A search or seizure of a place or thing in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy must be authorized by a judicial official, prior to the search being carried out. Hunter v. Southam 1984 CanLII 33 (SCC), [1984] 2 S.C.R. 145 • (1984), 11 D.LR. (4th) 641 • (1984), 14 C.C.C. (3d) 97. There are exceptions to that requirement, some examples being seizures incident to arrest, seizures of items “in plain view”, and searches pursuant to consent. The plain view principle was invoked by police officers on this hearing. In my view it is not applicable to a technically elaborate search of the memory of a personal computer in these circumstances. I shall deal with it later in these reasons.