In response to my recent Toronto Star column (Toronto Star version, HTML backup article, homepage version) defending PIPEDA, Canada’s privacy law, the paper today features a debate over the arguments presented in that column. Professor Richard Owens argues that PIPEDA “tarnishes lawmaking, impedes business unnecessarily and threatens constitutional disorder”, while I continue to defend the privacy statute, maintaining that the historical record suggests that business actively upported the law and the establishment of a national standard in its current form. also see: Owens Rebuttal
The Debate Over Privacy Law Continues
February 6, 2004
Share this post

Law Bytes
Episode 278: Ben Waldman on Gander Social and the Challenges of Building a Sovereign Social Network
byMichael Geist

August 10, 2026
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Michael Geist on Substack
Recent Posts
Named to Canadian Lawyer’s Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers
Be Careful What You Wish For: Why Asking Google Maps to Defy the U.S. on Lake Ontario Would Undermine Canadian Digital Sovereignty
Big Money, Bigger Design Changes: What the Meta Settlement Means for Canada, Bill C-34, and the Age Verification and Privacy Risks That Remain
Unleashing the Trolls: Ontario Court Opens the Door to Liability for Influencers Who Weaponize Their Audiences
Why Ottawa Will Likely Join the U.S. in Opposing the Quebec Online Streaming Law at the Centre of the Trade Battle
