Post Tagged with: "privacy"

respect my privacy by arnoKath https://flic.kr/p/9yfeKE CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 235: Teresa Scassa on the Alberta Clearview AI Ruling That Could Have a Big Impact on Privacy and Generative AI

The privacy concerns with Clearview AI sparked investigations and court cases around the world. The issues date back many years, but recently an Alberta court weighed in on the application of provincial privacy law in a decision that has big implications not only for that company but for the intersection between privacy and generative AI.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments Podcasts
Facebook: The privacy saga continues by Ruth Suehle for opensource.com (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/4638981545/sizes/o/

What Is With This Government and Privacy?: Political Party Privacy Safeguards Removed in “Affordability Measures” Bill

Fresh off Bill C-2 and lawful access provisions buried in a border safety bill, the government has now quietly inserted provisions that exempt political parties from the application of privacy protections in Bill C-4, an “affordability measures” bill. The provisions, which come toward the end of the bill, are deemed to be in force as May 31, 2000, meaning that they retroactively exempt the parties from any privacy violations that may date back decades. The ostensible reason for the provisions is a B.C. case that applied provincial privacy law to federal political parties. I discussed the case with Colin Bennett in this episode of the Law Bytes podcast in 2023. The government is now seeking to render that case moot and provide all political parties with an effective exemption from any privacy laws other than measures found in the Elections Act. An appeal of the B.C. case is scheduled to be heard later this month.

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June 6, 2025 3 comments News
Phonebooks galore by Tim Welch https://flic.kr/p/wAs3S CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

More Than Just Phone Book Data: Why the Government is Dangerously Misleading on its Warrantless Demands for Internet Subscriber Information

Government and law enforcement justifications for warrantless access to Internet subscriber information has long been defended on the grounds that the information being demanded carries little privacy interest. The go-to claim was always that it was “phone book information”, a reference to the largely discontinued practice of printing an annual public directory that included name, address, and phone number. The problem with that argument was that the information at issue included data points such as IP addresses and device identifiers, which could be used to track users and monitor online activity without a warrant. Moreover, linking a specific user to a specific IP address or other identifier effectively unlocks the door to potentially very sensitive information that is otherwise unavailable. Indeed, there is a reason that law enforcement logged over a million warrantless requests per year for basic subscriber information prior to the Supreme Court shutting down the practice.

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June 6, 2025 0 comments News
Welcome Mat by Bruce Bortin https://flic.kr/p/dZGkk CC BY-NC 2.0

Privacy At Risk: Government Buries Lawful Access Provisions in New Border Bill

The government yesterday introduced the Strong Border Act (Bill C-2), legislation that was promoted as establishing new border measure provisions presumably designed to address U.S. concerns regarding the border. Yet buried toward the end of the bill are lawful access provisions that have nothing to do with the border. Those provisions, which raise the prospect of warrantless access to information about Internet subscribers, establish new global production orders of subscriber information, and envision new levels of access to data held by electronic service providers, mark the latest attempt in a longstanding campaign by Canadian law enforcement for lawful access legislation. Stymied by the Supreme Court of Canada (which has ruled that there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in subscriber data) and by repeated failures to present a compelling evidentiary case for warrantless access, law enforcement has instead tried to frame lawful access as essential to address everything from organized crime to cyber-bullying to (now) border safety. Much like the government’s overreach last year on online harms, Bill C-2 overreaches by including measures on Internet subscriber data that have nothing to do with border safety or security but raise privacy and civil liberties concerns that are bound to spark opposition. This post provides the background on lawful access and an overview of some Bill C-2’s provisions with more details on key elements to come.

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June 4, 2025 6 comments News
EU Elections 2024 - Voting in Strasbourg by CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2024 - Source : EP https://flic.kr/p/2pWjX6e

The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards

As the 2025 federal election passes the midway point, it is increasingly apparent that the federal political parties are not only battling for votes, but also for data. Canadians may not see it but political parties are data machines anxious to collect and use as much data about potential supporters as possible. Sara Bannerman is the Canada Research Chair in Communications Policy and Governance at McMaster University. She has been examining the privacy concerns with Canadian political parties for years, highlighting the disconnect between the expectations of Canadians and the reality on the ground. She joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss Canadian political party privacy – or lack thereof – and explains the role that data plays in the modern political party machinery.

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April 7, 2025 22 comments Podcasts