International Law

Edmonton's pawnshop database violates privacy laws, Alberta commissioner rules

Posted on February 21, 2008
The Alberta Commissioner's office has been busy and productive as of late. The Commissioner has ruled that a database of pawn shop patrons is unlawful and has ordered that the database that's been in operation since 2006 be destroyed. Check out the decision/order here: Order P2007-001, F2007-001 and F2007-002...

Celebs pimping out their kids

Posted on February 21, 2008
There seems to be a growing practice of celebrities selling photos of their infant children. It is said (by the celebs or their publicists) that this is to control the release of these photos, which the press will get their hands on in any event. That doesn't ring true to me and it seems that it probably feeds the demand for such photos...

Alberta Commissioner forbids license scanning

Posted on February 20, 2008
In a long awaited decision, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta has ordered a nightclub to cease scanning drivers licenses. The practice is an unreasonable collection of personal information and is not justified under the Personal Information Protection Act...

Protection from the protection

Posted on February 20, 2008
Not interested in being captured on CCTV? Wear an IR light emitting headband. Apparently this device from Germany offers "protection from the protection". This is courtesy of Boing Boing, where one commentator says this is only useful to thwart IR cameras as most CCTV cameras have an IR filter attached...

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US FTC successfully sues Accusearch/Abika

Posted on February 19, 2008
Recently, the us Federal Trade Commission successfully brought an action against Accusearch (aka Abika) for selling customer phone records without consent. Readers will recall that Abika was the subject of a complaint brought by CIPPIC in Canada that is still ongoing...

Your medical chart, just a mouse click away

Posted on February 18, 2008
Today's Globe & Mail has an interesting article on electronic health records. Though the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario is featured, the article is light on privacy content. Nevertheless, for those who follow the area, it is a good update on where things are and where they are going...

No need for RCMP to keep files secret, privacy Commissioner says

Posted on February 14, 2008
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has completed a review of the exempt databanks maintained by the RCMP and has concluded that many of the records should not be there in the first place. She calls it "disturbing": News Release: Large number of files mistakenly held in RCMP exempt data banks "disturbing," says Privacy Commissioner (February 13, 2008) - Privacy Commissioner of Canada Large number of files mistakenly held in RCMP exempt data banks "disturbing," says Privacy Commissioner Commissioner tables first special report to Parliament; raises serious concerns about data banks containing documents Canadians can?t access February 13, 2008 ? An audit has found that many of the national security and criminal operational intelligence files sheltered from public access in the RCMP?s exempt data banks did not belong there, says the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in a special report to Parliament...

Quitting Facebook?

Posted on February 14, 2008
Earlier this week, the NYT had an interesting article on trying to quit Facebook and how difficult it is to have your personal informatin deleted (How Sticky Is Membership on Facebook? Just Try Breaking Free - New York Times). Apparently Facebook was listening: Quitting Facebook Gets Easier - New York Times...

US Customs confiscating laptops

Posted on February 07, 2008
Boing Boing reports that Consumerist reports that the Washington Post reports that US Customs are continuing their practice of requiring some travellers to log into their laptop computers and provide data to the government. In some cases, they`re confiscating the computers on a promise of returning them in a few days...

Privacy Commissioners come out against national (RF)ID cards

Posted on February 06, 2008
The Federal, Provincial and Territorial Privacy Commissioners came out yesterday against proposed RFID embedded super drivers licenses designed to facilitate border crossings: Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca Keep drivers' information in Canada ? officials Privacy commissioners slam plan to produce national identity cards By DIRK MEISSNER The Canadian Press Wed...

Privacy Commissioners to comment on RFID drivers licenses

Posted on February 05, 2008
The Privacy Commissioners of the provinces, territories and Canada are planning to speak out about RFID drivers licenses as part of their semi-annual get-together, being held in Victoria this week. This has been precipitated by BC's recent announcement to introduce a new RFID embedded license to facilitate border crossings...

Physician's birthday invitations spark complaint to Alberta Commissioner

Posted on February 05, 2008
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta has chastised a physician in that province after his patient database was used to send invitations to his birthday party. An individual who had "opted out" from such use received an invitation and complained to the Commisioner...

Developments in anti-piracy v. privacy

Posted on February 05, 2008
When Hollywood asked Verizon and AT&T to monitor and block customer trasmission of suspected pirated content, Verizon said no. AT&T is apparently looking into it. See: Verizon Rejects Hollywood?s Call to Aid Piracy Fight - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog...

Online debate: Security v. Privacy

Posted on February 05, 2008
I just got a notice about what should be an interesting online debate, hosted by the Economist.com. From an e-mail from The Economist: I?m reaching out on behalf of The Economist Debate Series a program of open conversations on important global topics led by high-profile debaters...

Montreal Second Cup owner forced to take down bathroom surveillance camera

Posted on February 04, 2008
I got a number of calls today from media outlets today about a controversy that has erupted in Montreal. It appears a Second Cup franchisee recently installed a fake surveillance camera in bathroom stalls in an effort to dissuade drug users from using the bathrooms to shoot up...

Schneier on Security vs. Privacy

Posted on February 03, 2008
Here's a really great read from Bruce Schneier: Schneier on Security: Security vs. Privacy If there's a debate that sums up post-9/11 politics, it's security versus privacy. Which is more important? How much privacy are you willing to give up for security? Can we even afford privacy in this age of insecurity? Security versus privacy: It's the battle of the century, or at least its first decade...

NL data breach caused by P2P program

Posted on February 02, 2008
The Justice Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador says a recent data security breach was caused by the P2P program LimeWire, which had been installed on a laptop used by a consultant. See: LimeWire led to data breach: N.L. justice minister.

Atlantic Canadian police want local ISPs to loosen up to nab suspected online predators

Posted on January 31, 2008
Earlier this week, the RCMP organized a conference of police, internet service providers and other "stakeholders" on internet safety. I wrangled an invite, but had to go out of town at the last minute. One of the topics under discussion was whether ISPs should disclose subscriber information without a warrant...

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