The Privacy Commissioner of Canada released her PIPEDA
annual report
yesterday with a clear emphasis on the Internet (Google Buzz &
Wifi, Facebook, eHarmony, etc.). The headline grabbing stories included
an audit
of Staples
that found the company had frequently failed to wipe customer
information from computers and other devices being resold in the stores
and an investigation of eHarmony, the online dating site, that had led
to
changes to its customer data deletion practices.
While these are important privacy developments, the release of this
information weeks or months after the investigation or audit was
concluded
points to a significant flaw in the current reporting approach. I
recognize that that is how the system currently functions - the OPC
reports to Parliament on audit findings and only occasionally publicly
reports on PIPEDA investigations - yet there is something fundamentally
flawed with a system that keeps consumers in the dark for months about
privacy risks. This is particularly ironic given the OPC's emphasis on
data breaches and the need for the private sector to disclose breaches
as quickly as possible. The same should be true for audits
and investigations to allow the public to react to newly identified
privacy risks.
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The Canadian Private Copying Collective has issued a release
saying that it has no plans to seek a levy on cloud-based music
services. The CPCC says the services are viewed as licensed services,
not private copying (though neither the Google nor Amazon services are
currently licensed). The announcement vindicates Canadian
Heritage
Minister James Moore, who identified cloud-based services as a reason
not to extend the levy in November 2010 in response
to Bloc Quebecois questions in the House of Commons:
My colleague from the Bloc
Québécois
keeps talking about downloading and MP3s. She does not mention
applications like Stitcher and streaming online services. People do not
download music now and then pay for the download. People are now
streaming media online. There are whole new services now for streaming
music.
Therefore, the proposals that she has
talked about but has not written down so we cannot see the details of
it, does not actually fit the current regime of how people are
consuming music. It does not work. It is a solution for 1995. It is not
a solution for 2010 and 2015. What she is proposing is window dressing.
It is not actually substantive in dealing with the issue of the private
copying regime. It does not actually substantively do it.
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The OECD has released a new
study
on national broadband plans that finds that Canada is one of the few
countries without government-backed targets for broadband access and
speeds.
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The United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and
Expression, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Organization of
American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and
the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Special
Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information have
issued a joint
declaration on freedom of expression and the Internet that builds
on the recent UN report.
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Google's Public Policy Blog comments
on the recent UN Report on freedom of expression and the Internet.
Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareWednesday June 22, 2011 |
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