Archive for the ‘Privacy’ category

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Privacy Commissioners speak about Getting Accountability Right at CLHIA Conference

May 14th, 2013

Last week I had the pleasure of listening to a great talk titled “Privacy: Getting Accountability Right” at the 2013 Compliance and Consumer Complaints Annual Conference organized by the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Asscoiation Inc. Taking place in sunny Vancouver (see below), the speakers were Barbara Bucknell of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jill Clayton, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Alberta, and Elizabeth Denham, Information and Privacy Commissioner, British Columba.

 

Vancouver Harbor

 

Here is a summary of their remarks.

The first question addressed to each panelist was the trends they were seeing in relation to privacy in the insurance industry.

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Wiretap intercept rules apply to mobile text messages says Supreme Court: R v TELUS

March 28th, 2013

The Supreme Court decided yesterday that police are required to comply with Part VI of the Criminal Code if they want to secure the prospective and continuous production of text messages from a mobile carrier like TELUS. In R. v. TELUS Communications Co., 2013 SCC 16, the Court ruled that police cannot merely obtain a general warrant. Rather to obtain copies of text messages in these circumstances, they must obtain an intercept order and comply with the conditions needed to intercept voice communications.

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Posted in Criminal Law, Privacy

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IPC v UFCW Charter/privacy case going to Supreme Court (updated)

October 27th, 2012

If privacy legislation significantly impairs Charter rights do privacy rights or Charter rights prevail? Specifically, does an individual’s right to privacy for publically crossing a picket line under Alberta’s comprehensive privacy legislation Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) have to yield to a union’s right of free expression to film and disseminate that act under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? This question was answered in the affirmative by the Alberta Court of Appeal in United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal the decision (now styled Inforrmation and Privacy Commissioner, et al. v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, et al.)

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Posted in CASL, Privacy

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Charter protects employees’ privacy in data stored on employer computers rules Supreme court in R v Cole

October 21st, 2012

The Supreme Court released its reasons in R. v. Cole, 2012 SCC 53 on Friday. It confirmed that a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his personal computer, even if it is owned by his or her employer. A police search of the computer without a warrant violated the accused’s rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the evidence could nevertheless be admitted into evidence on the facts of the case.

The facts in R v Cole were summed up in the headnote of the case as follows:

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Posted in Criminal Law, Privacy

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Privacy protects anonymity in cyberbulling case says Supreme Court

September 28th, 2012

The Supreme Court released its reasons in the A.B. v. Bragg Communications Inc., 2012 SCC 46 case yesterday. The main issue in the case was whether the privacy interests of a child to keep her identity anonymous in legal proceedings outweighed the open court principle.

The case arose from a 15-year-old girl finding out that someone had posted a Facebook profile using her picture, a slightly modified version of her name, and other particulars identifying her. Accompanying the picture was some unflattering commentary about the girl’s appearance along with sexually explicit references. The page was removed by the internet provider later that month.

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Posted in Privacy, Uncategorized

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Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2011-2012)

June 21st, 2012

Here are the slides used in my presentation to the Toronto Computer Lawyers Group earlier today, The Year in Review: Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2011-2012). It covers significant developements since my talk last spring, Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2010-2011).

The slides include a summary of the following cases:

Kraft Real Estate Investments, LLC v Homeway.com, Inc. 2012 WL 220271 (D.S.Car. Jan 24, 2012)

Swift v. Zynga Game Network, Inc., 805 F.Supp.2d 904, (N.D.Cal., 2011)

Fteja v. Facebook, Inc., 2012 WL 183896 (S.D.N.Y. 2012)

Grosvenor v. Qwest Corp., 2012 WL 602655 (D.Colo., 2012) 

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Posted in APIs, authorization, C-11, CASL, click wrap agreement, Computer & Internet Law Update, conflicts of laws, contracts, contributory infringement, Copyright, copyright reform, data protection, defamation, DMCA safe harbor, E-commerce, Google Book Scanning, hyperlinking liability, innocent disseminator, intellectual property, Internet defamation, ISP Liability, IT Contracts, jurisdiction, misleading advertising, OSFI Guidlines, Presentations, Privacy, Reproduction, shrink wrap license, spam, Trade Marks, web wrap agreement

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Contracting for a cloud computing deal?

May 23rd, 2012

Cloud computing is on the mind of many CIO’s these days. Its also on the mind of lawyers. Lawyers know contracting for cloud services can be difficult given the potential risks associated with these services. For regulated entities like Canadian financial institutions, a material public cloud transaction also poses serious OSFI compliance challenges. The standard form contracts of many cloud providers also contributes to the difficulties. For a survey of these terms, see Simon Bradshaw et al Contracts for Clouds: Comparison and Analysis of the Terms and Conditions of Cloud Computing Services.

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Posted in data protection, Privacy

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EU Commission proposes comprehensive reform of data protection rules

January 26th, 2012

Yesterday, the European Commission proposed a comprehensive reform of the EU’s 1995 data protection rules to strengthen online privacy rights and boost Europe’s digital economy. Highlights of the reform plan are described by the Commission as follows:

  • A single set of rules on data protection, valid across the EU. Unnecessary administrative requirements, such as notification requirements for companies, will be removed. This will save businesses around €2.3 billion a year.
  • Instead of the current obligation of all companies to notify all data protection activities to data protection supervisors – a requirement that has led to unnecessary paperwork and costs businesses €130 million per year, the Regulation provides for increased responsibility and accountability for those processing personal data.
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Posted in data protection, Privacy

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Copyright and privacy bills to be introduced in House of Commons

September 27th, 2011

The Government will likely introduce new Bills to amend the Copyright Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) within the next few days. The Parliament of Canada Notice Paper for Wednesday September 28, 2011 provides notice that the Minister of Industry and Minister of State (Agriculture) will introduce a Bill entitled “An Act to Amend the Copyright Act” and a Bill entitled “An Act to Amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act”.  The actual notices are dated September 27, 2011, which means that the Bills could be introduced as early as this Thursday.

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Posted in c-32, Copyright, copyright reform, Piracy, Privacy

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Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2010-2011)

June 15th, 2011

Here are the slides used in my presentation to the Toronto Computer Lawyers Group earlier today, The Year in Review: Developments in Computer, Internet and E-Commerce Law (2010-2011). It covers significant developements since my talk last spring.

The slides include a summary of the following cases and statutory materials:

Privacy:

Cite Cards Canada Inc. v. Pleasance, 2011 ONCA 3

Leon’s Furniture Limited v. Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2011 ABCA 94

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2010 FC 736

Nammo v. TransUnion of Canada Inc., 2010 FC 1284

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Posted in authorization, communication to the public, Computer Misuse, conflicts of laws, contributory infringement, Copyright, data protection, E-commerce, Fair Dealing, FISA, Google Book Scanning, idea expression dichotomy, intellectual property, ISP Liability, IT Contracts, Limitations of liability, Outsourcing, Patents, Piracy, Presentations, Privacy, spam, Trade Marks

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