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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

Marketers, meet the privacy officer. Privacy officer, meet the marketers.

Posted on June 23, 2008
According to a study by the Ponemon Institute and reported in Forbes today, there is a large disconnect between marketing departments and those charged with overseeing privacy compliance. This underscores the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to privacy within large organizations...

Data Breaches Made Possible By Incompetence, Carelessness

Posted on June 21, 2008
A study by Verizon Business Security Solutions has found that 87% of data breaches are the result of incompetence and carelessness. Even when hacking was to blame, the intrusion was made possible by systems that were unpatched after fixes had been available for some time...

Passengers virtually stripped naked by 3-D airport scanner being tested in Canada

Posted on June 21, 2008
We've seen this coming up through development, but the electronic virtual stripping machine is finally making its way to an airport in Canada, though just for a pilot project. The scanner was unveiled on Thursday. It uses "millimetre waves" to create a detailed 3-D image of the subject's body and any contraband they may have under their clothes...

Ask the privacy lawyer: Use of contact information for marketing purposes

Posted on June 18, 2008
I've been overwhelmed by the number of questions I've received in response to "Ask the privacy lawyer". Some of them are too specific and would cross over the line between legal advice and educational. But I got this question, which is relatively generic and probably is something that many people have to deal with: HI - In September 2007 I subscribed to a well known Canadian magazine...

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Pedophile fears as student profiles, pictures go in Queensland education database

Posted on June 16, 2008
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Parents' groups are up in arms in Australia after it was revealed that an intranet database of all students in Queensland State is being implemented that will be available to all employees of the education system...

Watch those Facebook apps!

Posted on June 14, 2008
One of the most problematic features of Facebook, from a privacy point of view, is that Facebook shares data with the owners of Facebook Apps, whose privacy practices are not well articulated or well understood. This week, the Washington Post had an interesting article highlighting this problem...

Youth Privacy Online: Thursday, September 4, 2008

Posted on June 11, 2008
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario is hosting a special one-day conference, Youth Privacy Online: Take Control, Make It Your Choice, being held on September 4, 2008, at the Marriott Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. According to the Commissioner's invitation: "My office is hosting this conference in order to provide a forum for discussion, debate and inquiry that will focus on exploring approaches to safeguarding the privacy of children and youth on the Internet...

International standard for privacy impact assessments

Posted on June 09, 2008
The International Standards Organization has earlier this year established ISO 22307:2008, which is a new international standard for privacy impact assessments. Here is the blurb, but you'll have to shell out 114 Swiss Francs for the real deal: ISO 22307:2008 - Financial services -- Privacy impact assessment ISO 22307:2008 recognizes that a privacy impact assessment (PIA) is an important financial services and banking management tool to be used within an organization, or by ?contracted? third parties, to identify and mitigate privacy issues and risks associated with processing consumer data using automated, networked information systems...

TSA announces new ID policy

Posted on June 09, 2008
According to the website of the Transportation Security Administration, the policy on flying without ID has been changed. If you refuse to provide ID, citing your constitutional rights, you'll be denied boarding. But if you tell them you would show them ID if you could, they'll let you fly...

ID required to buy spray paint in St. Louis

Posted on June 08, 2008
Want spray paint in St. Louis? You'll have to show some ID. See: Paintless in St. Louis? St. Louis Alderwoman Donna Baringer wants to treat cans of spray paint like they're handguns., page 1 - News - Riverfront Times - Riverfront Times.

Ask the privacy lawyer

Posted on June 07, 2008
Despite the disclaimer on the side of this blog, I often get e-mails from people asking questions about privacy laws and how they affect their own particular circumstances. They are usually from people who are not in a position to pay for legal advice...

CBA calls for sweeping reform of federal Privacy Act

Posted on June 06, 2008
The Canadian Bar Association has been urging a comprehensive review of Canada's public sector Privacy Act for some time. Two years ago, the national assembly of the organization representing more than thirty thousand Canadian lawyers unanimously called for a review of the law...

Commissioners launch youth privacy initiative

Posted on June 05, 2008
The federal, provincial and territorial privacy commissioners are meeting this week in Regina and have jointly started a new initiative, youthprivacy.ca. Here's the media release describing it: News Release: Privacy Advocates Express Concern About Child Privacy Online (June 4, 2008) - Privacy Commissioner of Canada Privacy Advocates Express Concern About Child Privacy Online Regina, June 4, 2008 ? As Canadian youth spend more time online, they run the risk of losing control of their personal information and, potentially, facing complications at home, school or work...

Bastionhost debuts "Dataville"

Posted on June 05, 2008
I am thrilled that a client of mine just successfully debuted its secure data centre concept at an industry event in Florida. The company, Bastionhost Ltd., is building secure data centres to take advantage of the lower risk and European/Canadian privacy compliance to serve customers in both New York and London from Canada...

Privacy Commissioner tables annual PIPEDA report

Posted on June 04, 2008
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada tabled her annual report to Parliament on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act for 2007 on June 3, 2008. The report is here: Annual Report to Parliament 2007 Report on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act - Privacy Commissioner of Canada...

UK daycare starts fingerprinting parents

Posted on June 02, 2008
The BBC says that two daycares in the UK have started fingerprinting parents (BBC NEWS England Kent Nursery scans parent fingerprints), but I prefer the comments at Boing Boing:English nurseries fingerprinting parents "for security" - Boing Boing Two nurseries in Kent, England are fingerprinting parents as they drop off and pick up kids "for safety...

Mobile phones used as "cookies" in the offline world to track shoppers

Posted on June 01, 2008
According to the Times, some shopping centres in the UK have started using a system that tracks shoppers using the unique signals produced by customers' mobile phones. The Information Commissioner has cautiously approved the technology: Shops track customers via mobile phone - Times Online The surveillance mechanism works by monitoring the signals produced by mobile handsets and then locating the phone by triangulation measuring the phone?s distance from three receivers...

Google starts collecting street view data in Europe

Posted on June 01, 2008
According to Computerworld Security, Google has started collecting images of European streets for its Street View feature, but is holding off putting the data online until it has figured out the local privacy law challenges. See: Google takes Street View snaps in Paris; lawsuits could follow...

Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic files complaint with the Privacy Commissioner about Facebook

Posted on May 31, 2008
The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) - Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) has filed a 35 page complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, alleging that Facebook violates the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act in at least eleven ways...

IRS employee charged after snooping through stars' returns and records

Posted on May 30, 2008
The Smoking Gun is reporting that an IRS employee is being charged with a misdemeanor offence after having been found to have looked at hundreds of celebrities records "out of curiosity". IRS Worker Snooped On Stars - May 30, 2008 MAY 30--An Internal Revenue Service employee snooped on the tax records of about 200 celebrities and athletes, confessing to investigators that he accessed the confidential material out of "curiosity...

Hands off my laptop

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Canadian Press and CanWest are reporting that the Canadian government is seriously considering implementing an Anti-counterfeiting law that would, among other things, permit ex parte searches for allegedly infringing materials. This raises the spectre of customs and border enforcement authorities searching laptops, ipods and other electronic devices...

Upcoming dot-ca whois privacy irks law enforcement

Posted on May 26, 2008
Upcoming changes to the Dot-CA domain name directory, which are designed to protect the privacy of registrants, are causing concerns among police and IP lawyers who have used the directory as a very easy way to track down the owners of dot-ca domain names: Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald...

NYPD's new eyes in the sky

Posted on May 24, 2008
The New York Police Department is proud of its new surveillance helicopter, which is said to be the most advanced of any police department in the country. It's unmarked and the pilots pride themselves on being able to observe people who "don't even know we're here...

Commissioner launches book to assist with privacy law compliance

Posted on May 23, 2008
The Federal Privacy Commissioner of Canada has today launched a new book, available online, to assist businesses in complying with PIPEDA. Here's the news release: News Release: New book launched to help businesses comply with privacy law (May 23, 2008) - Privacy Commissioner of Canada New book launched to help businesses comply with privacy law TORONTO, May 23, 2008 ? The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) today launched a new book to help businesses comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the federal private sector privacy law...

Ontario Commissioner releases 2007 annual report

Posted on May 22, 2008
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario tabled her Annual Report 2007 this past week. Apparently it was a good year: IPC - Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario Major advances made in Access and Privacy, says Commissioner Ann Cavoukian Major advances made in Access and Privacy, says Commissioner Ann Cavoukian Court rulings, key decisions by her office and other developments all helped to make 2007 a year of significant progress in advancing both freedom of information and protection of privacy, Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian said today, as she released her 2007 Annual Report...

Schneier calls for a data privacy law

Posted on May 22, 2008
In Wired, security and privacy guru Bruce Schneier is calling for a comprehensive privacy law in the United States: Our Data, Ourselves.

Alberta Commissioner confirms right to have personal health information masked

Posted on May 18, 2008
The Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner's office, in Investigation Report H2008-IR-001, has confirmed that individuals have the right to have their personal health information masked and its distribution restricted on Alberta Netcare: Investigation confirms Albertans' right to ask custodians to limit disclosure of health information through Alberta Netcare May 15, 2008Investigation confirms Albertans' right to ask custodians to limit disclosure of health information through Alberta NetcareInformation and Privacy Commissioner, Frank Work, has confirmed that individuals can ask that disclosure of their health information through Alberta Netcare, Alberta?s electronic health record, be limited...

Cleanse or secure your electronics before crossing the border

Posted on May 17, 2008
Over the past weeks, I've done a lot of travelling. First to Geneva and then to the US. On both occasions, I had to be very mindful of what information I have on my laptop and my USB drives, since I am subject to the Personal Information International Disclosure Protection Act...

Building China's high-technology surveillance society, with help from the US

Posted on May 17, 2008
Naomi Klein has an interesting piece in the most recent Rolling Stone on the emerging high-technology surveillance state being built in China, with help from some of largest US defence contractors: China's All-Seeing Eye : Rolling Stone ... Now, as China prepares to showcase its economic advances during the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, Shenzhen is once again serving as a laboratory, a testing ground for the next phase of this vast social experiment...

Hong Kong Privacy official jailed for fiddling expenses

Posted on May 17, 2008
Anthony Lam Wing-hong has been sentenced to nine months in jail for "flddling" travel expenses: The Standard - Hong Kong's First FREE English Newspaper Privacy official jailed for fiddling expenses Former deputy privacy commissioner Anthony Lam Wing-hong was yesterday jailed for nine months for fiddling his travel expenses to Australia involving more than HK$100,000...

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