Concerns over the use of Patriot Act to access Canadians’ personal information spilled into the House of Commons yesterday. See this exchange between Joe Comartin and Treasury Board President John Baird.
Post Tagged with: "privacy"
Privacy Commissioner Releases Annual PIPEDA Report
The Federal Privacy Commissioner has released her PIPEDA annual report. The report indicates that there was 400 complaints, a decline from 723 in 2004. The big question is why – is it a function of greater compliance, consumer frustration with PIPEDA, the availability of provincial privacy laws, or a lack […]
Canada to Launch Cybersecurity Task Force?
In April 2004, the Liberal government released a report on Canada’s National Security Policy that included plans to establish a public-private cybersecurity task force. More than two years later, it appears that the Conservative government is preparing to follow through on that commitment by launching its own task force. Although […]
Canadian Privacy Community Speaks Out on Copyright Reform
On the heels of the recent emergence of the CMCC, Canada's privacy community is today speaking out on its concerns with the prospect of copyright reform that provides legal protections for digital rights management but fails to account for the impact on personal privacy. Dozens of groups and individuals, including civil liberties organizations, library and education associations, and prominent privacy leaders such as former Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips (I have also lent my name to the letter) have sent a public letter to Ministers Bernier and Oda calling on the government to ensure that privacy factors in the copyright reform process.
The letter, supported by a background paper on the privacy concerns raised by copyright reform, seeks assurances that:
- any proposed copyright reforms will prioritize privacy protection by including a full privacy consultation and a full privacy impact assessment with the introduction of any copyright reform bill;
- any proposed anti-circumvention provisions will create no negative privacy impact; and
- any proposed copyright reforms will include pro-active privacy protections that, for example, enshrine the rights of Canadians to access and enjoy copyright works anonymously and in private.
Notably, several of Canada's privacy commissioners have lent their support to the open letter.
Canada’s Top Court Tips Hand on Privacy
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) focuses on the recent Supreme Court of Canada Heinz decision which sheds light into how Canada' s top court regards the importance of privacy. I argue that the decision can be read as an indirect endorsement of the Privacy Commissioner […]
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 200: Colin Bennett on the EU’s Surprising Adequacy Finding on Canadian Privacy Law 
Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act 
AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act
