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The Canadian Privacy Law Blog

The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.

Post Frequency: 2.3/day

Last Entry: October 07, 2020 at 10:02:01

Privacy Commissioner to accept Fracebook's friend request

Posted on August 17, 2009
According to the Toronto Star, the Privacy Commissioner is going to accept Facebook's friend request, just on the eve of the deadline to comply with the Commissioner's prevous adverse finding: TheStar.com Canada Facebook, privacy commissioner make friends Susan Delacourt Ottawa Bureau OTTAWA ? Friendship, fittingly, appears to have broken out in the dispute between Canada's privacy commissioner and the Facebook social networking site...

Facebook must satisfy Canada's privacy commissioner by Monday

Posted on August 16, 2009
Following the Commissioner's adverse finding against Facebook, the social networking site's deadling to respond is tomorrowf (See: Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Canadian Privacy Commissioner calls on Facebook to improve privacy practices). I don't expect a big response from Facebook, so we'll have to wait to see if the Commissioner takes them to court...

Opinion: Give privacy laws teeth

Posted on August 06, 2009
The next in the series of three privacy OpEds in the National Post goes to Phillipa Lawson, formerly of CIPPIC: Give privacy laws teeth Internet use in Canada has had enormous economic and social benefits; individuals and organizations can now broadcast their ideas, promote their businesses and build communities of interest instantly, at minimal cost, worldwide...

Privacy needs to be built into the product

Posted on August 05, 2009
Jacob Glick, Canadian policy counsel for Google Inc., has a good OpEd piece in today's National Post. I agree that innovators need to build privacy into their products, not only to manage their own risks but as members of society who have responsibilities for their users...

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BC Privacy Commissioner issues license swiping decision

Posted on July 23, 2009
Earlier this week, the Information & Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia issued a decision (P09-01) related to the controversial practice of scanning photo IDs of patrons by bars, pubs and night clubs. From the Commissioner's media release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 21, 2009 Information and Privacy Commissioner Releases Order on Driver?s Licence Scanning VICTORIA ? Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis today released Order P09-01, in response to a complaint about the scanning of a bar customer?s driver?s licence...

Canadian Privacy Commissioner calls on Facebook to improve privacy practices

Posted on July 16, 2009
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has determined that Facebook needs to improve its privacy practices to comply with Canadian privacy laws. The Report is here: Commissioner?s Findings - PIPEDA Case Summary #2009-008: Report of Findings: CIPPIC v. Facebook Inc...

Privacy Commissioner to issue Facebook privacy finding tomorrow

Posted on July 15, 2009
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is holding a press conference tomorrow to announce her findings after a complaint against Facebook's privacy practices. The Ottawa Citizen is anticipating that the report will not be favourable to the online social networking service used by over 250 million users...

Trojan software compromises Alberta's electronic health record system

Posted on July 08, 2009
This is not good and should have been avoidable: Commissioner urges vigilance in wake of computer virus outbreak at Alberta Health Services July 8, 2009 The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has been notified by Alberta Health Services that a virus was present on the Alberta Health Services network in Edmonton...

Facebook to streamline user privacy controls, raise awareness about dissemination of info

Posted on July 05, 2009
Facebook is responding to privacy backlash concerns by introducing a new unified privacy interface and making users more aware of where their posted materials may be broadcast on the service. This stems, in part, from their plans to make users postings available system-wide like Twitter...

British intelligence leader's personal details on Facebook

Posted on July 05, 2009
A lesson that just because you're not on Facebook, your friends, acquaintances and spouses may have put your information up there. Or information that may compromise your eligibility to be the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI6): MI6 chief blows his cover as wife's Facebook account reveals family holidays, showbiz friends and links to David Irving Mail Online...

One privacy step forward, one back for Facebook

Posted on July 01, 2009
One step forward and one step backward for privacy on Facebook ... One Step Back: According to the New York Times (The Day Facebook Changed - Messages to Become Public by Default - NYTimes.com), Facebook "feeds" will become publicly available. This is seen as a step to compete with Twitter...

"Clear" may put customer information up for sale

Posted on June 26, 2009
Clear, the for profit company that did pre-screening of travelers so they could breeze through security, recently went out of business. Now there's a suggestion that the personal information they've compiled may be put up for sale. According to the release (below), it would be to a company that would provide a similar business and would be approved by the Transportation Security Administration...

Alberta Commissioner fed up with unencrypted laptops

Posted on June 26, 2009
I can just imagine Frank Work's expression of exaperation in uttering the quote attributed to him in the following media release: Level of security on stolen laptops simply not acceptable, says Commissioner June 24, 2009 Level of security on stolen laptops simply not acceptable, says Commissioner Information and Privacy Commissioner Frank Work is perplexed with news that two laptops containing health information stolen from Alberta Health Services (AHS) were not encrypted...

CBA Privacy Section's Privacy Pages for June 2009

Posted on June 23, 2009
The Canadian Bar Association's National Privacy and Access Law Section's latest edition of Privacy Pages is now up: Privacy Pages, June 2009. I'd also draw your attention to the call for nominations for the position of Secretary and a number of executive positions for the 2009-2010...

Google's Street View complies with Japan privacy law, regulator says

Posted on June 23, 2009
The Japanese Communications Ministry has concluded that Google's Street View complies with Japan's data protection laws provided it continues to blur individual faces. It appears to be a preliminary opinion as more public input is being sought over the coming months...

Information Commissioner abruptly retires

Posted on June 22, 2009
This was a bit unexpected. From David Akin, via @michaelgeist: Info Commish Marleau quits - not good for ATI reform - On the Hill.Here's the media release: Ottawa, June 22, 2009 ? Canada's fourth and current Information Commissioner, Robert Marleau, announced today his retirement from public life effective June 29, 2009...

OPC's Spring Privacy Perspectives

Posted on June 22, 2009
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has just released its spring 2009 edition of Privacy Perspectives, including articles on Stree-level imaging, OPC news and recent case summaries. It's available here.

Bozeman rescinds password requirement for job applicants

Posted on June 21, 2009
Further to my previous posting, City in Montana requires job applicants to hand over all social network logins and passwords, the City of Bozeman has faced a huge backlash over its incredibly intrusive policy of requiring job applicants to hand over social networking login information...

Text of digital wiretap Bills now online

Posted on June 19, 2009
Further to yesterday's post, Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Lawful access to ISP subscriber information reintroduced, the texts of Bills C-46 and C-47 are now online at the Parliament website: C-46 An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Competition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act aka Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act...

Lawful access to ISP subscriber information reintroduced

Posted on June 18, 2009
The Minister of Justice is having a press conference as I type this, unveiling among other things, "lawful access" to telecommunications customers' idenfitying information without a warrant. Stay tuned for more details. Update Here's the media release from the government: Government Of Canada Introduces Legislation To Fight Crime In The 21st Century Government Of Canada Introduces Legislation To Fight Crime In The 21st Century OTTAWA, June 18, 2009 ? The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P...

Google execs testify about Street View and privacy

Posted on June 18, 2009
Yesterday, executives from Google Canada testified to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ethics, Privacy and Access to Information about their Street View product and how Google is addressing privacy concerns. Here's some of the media coverage from the Ottawa Citizen, which I'll supplement with the actual testimony when it's posted on the Committee's site: Google ?Street View? amended to allay privacy concerns, executive tells MPs OTTAWA ? Google?s controversial ?Street View? feature won?t infringe on Canadians? privacy rights, the company?s head of Canadian operations said Wednesday in advance of an appearance before a House of Commons committee...

City in Montana requires job applicants to hand over all social network logins and passwords

Posted on June 18, 2009
Applying for a job with the city of Bozeman, Montana? Check out what's on the application: "Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube...

The Hidden Cost of Privacy?

Posted on June 15, 2009
Forbes has an interesting article on The Hidden Cost of Privacy which suggests that the costs of complying with privacy laws outweigh the benefits gained. Bruce Schneier has a good counterpoint here: The "hidden cost" of privacy and suggests the following points: Broad privacy regulations are better than narrow ones...

Privacy Act report released by parliamentary committee

Posted on June 12, 2009
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has released its long-awaited report on proposed reforms to the Privacy Act. I appeared before the committee on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association and was pleased to see that many of our recommendations to the Committee are also recommendations made by the Committee to the government...

Press freedom trumps privacy in case of wayward tape

Posted on June 09, 2009
I can't comment on this as I represented a party to the proceeding, but this is highly relevant to readers of this blog: Judge dismisses bid for injunction - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca A judge refused to grant an injunction against The Chronicle Herald on Monday, clearing the way for the newspaper to publish a story on the contents of a digital recorder that a former federal political aide left in an Ottawa washroom this winter...

Federal victims advocate calls for warrantless disclosure of ISP subscriber information

Posted on June 03, 2009
The thing speaks for itself: Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime Recommends Changes to Address Internet-Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime Recommends Changes to Address Internet-Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse OTTAWA (Ontario), June 2, 2009 - The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (FOVC) today released its first special report Every Image, Every Child which makes nine recommendations to the federal government on how to address the difficult issue of internet-facilitated child sexual abuse...

Quebec movie theatre ordered to pay $10K in damages for bag search

Posted on May 30, 2009
According to CTV News, a Quebec movie theatre is liable for $10,000 in damages when it searched a family's bags (ostensibly for video recording equipment) and exposed the eldest daugther's birth control pills to her unkonwing parents. See: CTV.ca Cinema ordered to pay $10K in damages for search...

Managing privacy in employee relations

Posted on May 28, 2009
I was invited to co-chair and present at the Canadian Institute's "Meeting Your Privacy Obligations" conference in Toronto. My presentation was specifically about managing privacy in the workplace, which is below if you're interested. Here's a link if Google Docs aren't giving you due respect: Managing Privacy in Employee Relations I have to say it was one of the best conferences of its kind that I've been to recently...

Halifax police plan to use covert cameras in public places

Posted on May 27, 2009
Halifax Police plan to augment their network of surveillance cameras with hidden cameras in public places. Law abiding citizens have nothing to fear, according to the Mayor. Besides, the Mayor says, people are used to being surveilled on private property...

Ann Cavoukian reappointed as Ontario Privacy Commissioner

Posted on May 27, 2009
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has been reappointed for third term. Here's the media release: IPC - Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario Dr. Cavoukian reappointed as Information and Privacy Commissioner for an unprecedented third term: Blazes the trail with new priorities TORONTO ? Dr...

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