Post Tagged with: "privacy"

Canadian Courts Set High Bar for Privacy Damage Awards

When privacy violations occur, the first reaction for many victims is to search for a way to stop the offending conduct. The second response may be to invoke the law by filing a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Hundreds of complaints are filed every year and most are resolved with an explanation for what occurred, a change in corporate policy, or occasionally a formal apology. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that a growing number of complainants have been left unsatisfied with this outcome, however, and are turning to the courts for damage awards.

Two recent Federal Court decisions grappled with the issue of damage awards for privacy violations and arrived at the same conclusion – personal privacy is not worth much when it comes actual compensation for privacy breaches or abuses.

November 30, 2010 — 13 comments — Columns

Canadian Courts Set High Bar for Privacy Damage Awards

Appeared in the Toronto Star on November 28, 2010 as Canadian Courts Set High Bar for Privacy Damage Awards When privacy violations occur, the first reaction for many victims is to search for a way to stop the offending conduct. The second response may be to invoke the law by […]

November 30, 2010 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive

Jennifer Stoddart Re-Appointed as Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Jennifer Stoddart has been reappointed for an additional three years as the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The reappointment must be approved by the House of Commons.

November 25, 2010 — Comments are Disabled — News

Lawful Access Bills Would Reshape Internet in Canada

The push for new Internet surveillance capabilities goes back to 1999, when government officials began crafting proposals to institute new surveillance technologies within Canadian networks along with additional legal powers to access surveillance and subscriber information. The so-called lawful access initiatives stalled in recent years, but my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that earlier this month the government tabled its latest proposal with three bills (C-50, C-51, C-52) that received only limited attention despite their potential to fundamentally reshape the Internet in Canada.

The bills contain a three-pronged approach focused on information disclosure, mandated surveillance technologies, and new police powers.

November 16, 2010 — 85 comments — Columns

Facing Up to the Generational Privacy Divide

Last week hundreds of privacy regulators, corporate officers, and activists gathered in Jerusalem, Israel for the annual Data Protection and Privacy Commissioner Conference. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the conference theme focused on the perception of a growing privacy divide between generations, with older and younger demographics seemingly adopting sharply different views on the importance of privacy.

Many acknowledged that longstanding privacy norms are being increasingly challenged by the massive popularity of social networks that encourage users to share information that in a previous generation would have never been made publicly available for all the world to see. Moreover, rapid technological change and the continuous evolution of online sites and services create enormous difficulty for regulators unaccustomed to moving at Internet speed.

Given these changes, the conference asked participants to question whether privacy norms are at a breaking point with conventional laws, regulations, and principles rendered irrelevant in the face of the generational and technological shift.

November 4, 2010 — 21 comments — Columns