The recent Canadian privacy case involving Facebook attracted international attention as the world's leading social networking site agreed to implement a series of changes that will affect 250 million users. While the case is widely viewed as a significant victory for Canadian privacy, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the issue might never have been addressed but for a second, little-noticed privacy decision released two weeks later.
Post Tagged with: "abika"
Privacy Commissioner Issues Finding Against U.S.-Based Abika.com
Not sure how I missed it, but the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recently issued a well-founded finding against Accusearch, which does business as Abika.com. The case is noteworthy since CIPPIC went to the Federal Court to force the Privacy Commissioner to launch its investigation (the case raised interesting jurisdictional questions). […]
Federal Court Orders Privacy Commissioner to Investigate Complaint
The Federal Court of Canada yesterday issued an important decision addressing the jurisdictional reach of Canada's privacy legislation. The case involved a complaint launched by Pippa Lawson of CIPPIC against U.S.-based Abika.com over the collection and use of her personal information. The Privacy Commissioner refused to investigate, arguing that Abika.com declined to cooperate with the investigation and that she therefore lacked the jurisdiction to proceed.
CIPPIC applied for judicial review and yesterday won the case. The court gets it exactly right – "with respect, I think the Commissioner did not distinguish her power to investigate from the effectiveness of her investigation."
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