Archive for April, 2013

Your Information is Not Secure: Thousands of Government Privacy Breaches Point to Need for Reform

As Canadians focused last week on the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and the RCMP arrests of two men accused of plotting to attack Via Rail, the largest sustained series of privacy breaches in Canadian history was uncovered but attracted only limited attention.  Canadians have faced high profile data breaches in the past – Winners/HomeSense and the CIBC were both at the centre of serious breaches several years ago – but last week, the federal government revealed that it may represent the biggest risk to the privacy of millions of Canadians as some government departments have suffered breaches virtually every 48 hours.

The revelations came as a result of questions from NDP MP Charlie Angus, who sought information on data, information or privacy breaches in all government departments from 2002 to 2012.  The resulting documentation is stunning in its breadth.

My weekly technology column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that virtually every major government department has sustained breaches, with the majority occurring over the past five years (many did not retain records dating back to 2002). In numerous instances, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada was not advised of the breach.

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April 30, 2013 8 comments Columns

Your Information is Not Secure: Thousands of Government Privacy Breaches Point to Need for Reform

Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 27, 2013 as Your Information is Not Secure in Ottawa As Canadians focused last week on the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing and the RCMP arrests of two men accused of plotting to attack Via Rail, the largest sustained series of privacy […]

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April 29, 2013 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

Copyright Board of Canada Admits to “Palpable Error” in Music Tariff Decision

The Copyright Board of Canada has released a decision in which it admits to palpable error that resulted in a hugely inflated tariff. The case involved a tariff for SODRAC for reproduction of music works in cinematographic works for private use of for theatrical exhibition.  The Canadian Association of Film […]

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April 29, 2013 4 comments News

Canadian Government Quietly Drops Lawful Access From Its Cyber-Security Strategy

Jesse Brown had an interesting post  yesterday that raised concerns about the prospect that the government might use mounting fears over cyber-bullying to re-start their failed lawful access legislation. While it is important to remain vigilant about the possibility of the re-emergence of Internet surveillance legislation, I think a more important signal suggests the bill really is dead (at least until after the 2015 election).

First, Bill C-30 actually did include a provision that could arguably be used to help address cyber-bullying. It wasn’t the provisions involving privacy and surveillance, but rather the expansion of a Criminal Code provision on harassment. Section 372(3) currently provides:

Every one who, without lawful excuse and with intent to harass any person, makes or causes to be made repeated telephone calls to that person is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

The limitation to harassing phone calls would seemingly exclude instances of cyber-bullying. Bill C-30 would have made provision technology neutral:

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April 26, 2013 2 comments News

Why Rejecting Mandatory Distribution Fits With the CRTC’s Interpretation of the Broadcasting Act

This week’s CRTC mandatory distribution hearing has placed the spotlight on a fascinating disconnect between the Commission and the Canadian broadcast community. Despite months of telegraphing its intent to promote consumer choice over broadcaster revenues, the first two days of the hearing have featured repeated presentations from groups who have not gotten the message. CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais could not have been clearer in a speech last October:

In our decision, we noted that consumers increasingly expect to be in control of what they watch. It makes sense that consumers and the distributors who serve them should have more flexibility in packaging choices. While we acknowledged the value of predictable revenues to the programming services, we decided that the days of guaranteed wholesale rates are over. Programming services cannot expect to remain completely insulated from the growing demand for greater choice by Canadians.

He followed that up in March by telling the production community that it “will need to compete, just like any other sector.”

Despite the messaging, many of the groups seeking mandatory distribution evidently don’t get it.

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April 25, 2013 10 comments News