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 […]
Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh
Privacy
Nova Scotia Latest Province to Tackle Patriot Act
David Fraser notes that Nova Scotia has become the latest province to introduce legislation designed to address the privacy concerns raised by the Patriot Act. B.C. and Alberta have also taken action.
The Supreme Court on Privacy
David Fraser points out that the Supreme Court of Canada has just released a decision, H.J. Heinz v. Attorney General (Canada), that includes a significant amount of privacy analysis. The case involves privacy considerations within the context of Access to Information Act requests. The divided court, which interestingly relies on the recent LaForest report on the potential merger of the Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners, says several noteworthy things about privacy and reflects some differences on the court on the merits of judicial intervention on privacy grounds.
Ottawa Releases Strategy for Privacy and the Patriot Act
The Canadian government has released a new document establishing a strategy for concerns about cross-border data flows, the USA Patriot Act, and personal privacy. I’ll have more to say about the document soon.
Priorities
Yesterday's Speech from the Throne matched expectations as the focus was unsurprisingly on the Conservatives' five priorities. There were, however, several noteworthy inclusions and omissions. While there was no specific mention of copyright and the WIPO Treaties, Howard rightly points out that speech did say that "significant treaties will be […]
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