International Law

Lawful access back before Parliament

Posted on November 02, 2010
Once again, the Government of Canada has put "lawful access" back before Parliament. Notice that it again allows for the police and "national security agencies" to require the personal information of telecommunications customers without a warrant. I will post a link to the bill itself as soon as I can get my hands on it, but in the meantime here's the press release from the Department of Justice: Government of Canada Introduces Legislation to Fight Crime in Today?s High-Tech WorldGOVERNMENT OF CANADA INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO FIGHT CRIME IN TODAY?S HIGH-TECH WORLD OTTAWA, November 1, 2010 ? The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P...

The new lawful access bills

Posted on November 02, 2010
Here is the first reading text of the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act: BILL C-51 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...

Presentation: Location Based Services

Posted on October 30, 2010
The fourteenth annual Canadian IT Law Association conference just wrapped up and I had the distinct pleasure of sitting on a panel moderated by Michael Erdle, with Lisa Lifshitz and Mark Hayes on the topic of privacy and social media, online advertising and location-based services...

Privacy for Sale: The Real Cost of Social Networking

Posted on October 25, 2010
This month's edition of The National magazine (National (English) - October/November 2010) has a significant multi-page article on privacy and social networking, featuring interviews with me, Michael Geist, Ariane Siegel and Jennifer Stoddart. You can download the entire article in PDF here...

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Michael Power would like to introduce you to FATCA

Posted on October 25, 2010
Michael Power would like to introduce you to FATCA (Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act). Don't blame the messenger; Michael's a nice guy: Michael Power - It?s Time You Met FATCA... So affected institutions (remember FATCA covers both financial and non-financial entities) must identify clients who are American (which means asking the question of every client since ?U...

Privacy Commissioner releases draft report on 2010 consumer privacy consultations

Posted on October 25, 2010
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has released her draft report on her 2010 Consumer Privacy Consultations that focused on "Online Tracking, Profiling and Targeting and Cloud Computing." You can get to the report here: http://www.priv.gc.ca/resource/consultations/index_e...

Commissioner to initiate new investigation of Facebook, perhaps?

Posted on October 19, 2010
It appears that another investigation of Facebook by the Privacy Commissioner may be in the offing as it is revealed that the site passed -- perhaps unwittingly -- user info to advertisers and applications. See: Personal info slips through Facebook into advertisers? hands - The Globe and Mail...

Using the Best and Ignoring the Rest: Connecting Social Media to Business Results

Posted on October 19, 2010
I've been invited to participate in a panel discussion at the Annual CBA Law Firm Leadership Conference on the use of social media by lawyers and law firms. Here's the description of the panel I'm on: Using the Best and Ignoring the Rest: Connecting Social Media to Business Results Blogging? Twitter? Facebook? There is no finishing line in the world of technology...

Privacy enforcement transcends borders

Posted on October 18, 2010
Read David Canton's London Free Press column on the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (that I blogged about previously) here: eLegal Canton ? Privacy enforcement transcends all borders.

Stalking celebrities just got easier

Posted on October 13, 2010
Celebrity stalking is about to get much, much, much easier thanks to a soon-to-be released app called Just Spotted. Read more at TechCrunch: Celebrity Geo-Stalking In Real-Time. Finally. JustSpotted Launches Next Week.Of course, this raises issues about celebrity privacy and then one has to ask what is the threshold for "celebrity"...

The Slow Demise of Defamation and the Privacy Torts

Posted on October 12, 2010
Daniel Solove at Concurring Opinions has some interesting thoughts on the progressive demise of defamation and privacy tort cases in the United States: Concurring Opinions - The Slow Demise of Defamation and the Privacy Torts I think this turn of events is unfortunate...

Mirror, mirror on the web

Posted on October 12, 2010
This week's Lawyers Weekly quotes me in an article by donalee moulton on monitoring and protecting your online defamation. See: Mirror, mirror on the web.

Teens Want More Privacy Online Too | Fast Company

Posted on October 08, 2010
Fast Company is reporting on a recent US survey that suggests that there is no generation gap when it comes to concern about privacy. Teens want control over their personal information in overwhelming numbers. See: Teens Want More Privacy Online Too | Fast Company...

Facebook offers additional privacy features

Posted on October 07, 2010
Today, in what has been speculated to be phase one of significant announcements in the coming days, Facebook has revealed some important new features to increase user control over personal information. First, the company has unveiled a completely redesigned "groups" feature that allows you to more easily share information with smaller groups of friends, rather than all your "friends" or the world at large...

Privacy Commissioner's Annual Report on the Privacy Act tabled

Posted on October 05, 2010
Jennifer Stoddart has today tabled her Annual Report to Parliament on the Privacy Act (2009-2010). The report deals with her duties and the administration of the federal public sector privacy law. Some highlights from her accompanying press release include: Wireless audit: Of five federal entities examined, none had fully assessed the threats and risks inherent in wireless communications...

Right to Know Week in Canada

Posted on September 28, 2010
September 27 to October 1 is Right to Know Week, which is meant to raise awareness about people's right to access to information (also known as freedom of information in some jurisdictions). For a list of all the events across the country, check out the Right to Know website: HOME - Right To Know - Right To Know...

Facebook now anticipating and responding to privacy questions in Canada

Posted on September 27, 2010
CTV News is reporting that when Facebook launched their location-based service "Places" in Canada, the company did more than just have a teleconference with reporters to gush about how cool it is. Much of the call was spent talking about privacy, which is key to managing the inevitable privacy questions that any such product will raise in Canada...

Canada's Anti-Spam Act back on the order paper

Posted on September 27, 2010
Bill C-28, called the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (or, more formally: An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act) is back on the order paper in Parliament today...

Fear and loathing and a dude named ?Third Party?

Posted on September 26, 2010
Dissent, over at PogoWasRight, has a good post on what I see as the most problematic characteristic of privacy law in the United States. Under American constitutional jurisprudence, as soon as you hand personal information over to a third party, you lose all expectation that it will be kept private...

Queensland Privacy Commissioner calls Facebook suspect because of its profit motive

Posted on September 24, 2010
A day after the Canadian Privacy Commissioner stated that Facebook had gotten its house in order, the Privacy Commissioner of Queensland, Australia, has piled on the social networking site. I have to take issue with some of her comments. She claims that Facebook is deceptive because it bills itself as a site for users to share and connect with friends, while its motives are to make money...

US Senate considers update to Electronic Communications Privacy Act

Posted on September 24, 2010
This past week, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the possible update of the American Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The statute, passed in the 1980s, is in urgent need of an overhaul in an age of cloud computing. The law has its origin in (in my view, perverse) caselaw that says you have no expectation of privacy from the government once you've handed your information over to a third party...

Striking a blow for cyber-privacy

Posted on September 24, 2010
Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has a fan at the Edmonton Journal: Striking a blow for cyber-privacy Privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has been a true friend of Canadians -- both in the old analog meaning of that word, and in the digitized, social media sense...

Social media and the courts

Posted on September 23, 2010
I was honoured to speak on a panel this afternoon with Assistant Privacy Commissioner Chantal Benier and Professor Pierre Trudel at the Canadian Forum for Court Technology put on by the Canadian Centre for Court Technology. The panel was on the topic of the Ethical Implications of Technology...

Canadian Privacy Commissioner to announce Facebook conclusions tomorrow

Posted on September 22, 2010
Sarah Schmidt of Postmedia News is reporting that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is about to release her conclusions about whether Facebook has done enough to comply with Canadian privacy laws. See the coverage in the Montreal Gazette: Canadian watchdog to weigh in on Facebook's privacy changes...

Canadian Privacy Commissioner satisfied with Facebook resolution

Posted on September 22, 2010
This just posted on the OPC website: News Release: Privacy Commissioner completes Facebook review - September 22, 2010 Privacy Commissioner completes Facebook review OTTAWA, September 22, 2010 ? The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has finished reviewing the changes that Facebook implemented as a result of her investigation of the social networking site and has concluded that the issues raised in the complaint have been resolved to her satisfaction...

International data protection authorities form Global Privacy Enforcement Network

Posted on September 22, 2010
Privacy regulators from around the world have joined forces to establish the "Global Privacy Enforcement Network" to facilitate interjurisdictional cooperation on privacy matters. The network includes: U.S. Federal Trade Commission Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada Commission Nationale de l?Informatique et des Libertés (France) Office of the Privacy Commissioner, New Zealand Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Australia Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Ireland Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Spain) Information Commissioner?s Office (United Kingdom) Garante Per La Protezione Dei Dati Personali (Italy) Dutch Data Protection Authority (the Netherlands) Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Germany) Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, (Victoria, Australia) Here is the announcement from the Canadian Commissioner's office: Announcement: Canada joins privacy enforcement agencies in establishing Global Privacy Enforcement Network - September 21, 2010...

Canada may introduce "naked naked" machines for airport security

Posted on September 21, 2010
Yesterday was the Canadian Bar Association's first full-day continuing education event in Ottawa. The first panel of the morning was particularly interesting, composed of the information and privacy commissioners from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the two federal offices...

Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office annual report

Posted on September 21, 2010
The DHS Privacy Office has released its annual report for 2009/2010. The latest and historical documents are available here: DHS | Privacy & FOIA Reports.

Summary of PIPEDA amendments from Library of Parliament

Posted on September 20, 2010
Michel-Adrien Sheppard at Library Boy blog links to a new publication of the Library of Parliament, summarizing Bill C-29, also known as the PIPEDA amendments: Library Boy: Library of Parliament Legislative Summary of Amendments to Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act...

Tracking digital shadows

Posted on September 19, 2010
Today's Montreal Gazette has an interesting article on the data trail that people generate day-to-day. Tracking digital shadows "It's the sort of trail that you may not be aware of, because you don't have physical contact with the machine that may be collecting the information," said Colin Mc-Kay, the director of research, education and outreach with the office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada...

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