My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) examines the growing controversy over the mandatory fingerprinting of students taking the LSAT. There has been swift reaction to the thumb-printing story, with the federal, British Columbia, and Alberta Privacy Commissioners joining forces in a combined privacy investigation. Moreover, the Canadian Council of Law Deans, which represents law schools across the country, has expressed concern over the practice, acknowledging that the data could be subject to a USA Patriot Act request. The Council raised questions about whether the practice might violate federal and provincial privacy statutes.
Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh
Privacy
It’s Baaack: Day Calls National ID Card Inevitable
Stockwell Day, Canada’s new minister of public security, has raised the prospect of creating a national ID card. Again. This issue was a pet project of former Liberal Minister Denis Coderre, who pushed for a national ID card that would be expensive, provide little additional security, create new privacy risks, and would remove rights to remain anonymous.
Sony Hit With Another Canadian Class Action Lawsuit
Sony Canada has been hit with another class action suit arising from last year's rootkit fiasco. This suit is particularly interesting for a pair of reasons. First, it contains new allegations about Sony's conduct in Canada. In particular, it alleges: Sony released at least 34 titles in Canada with sales […]
The Risks and Rewards of Data Retention
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, freely available version, BBC version) examines the U.S. Department of Justice’s demand for search data from the world’s leading search engines. I argue that while much of the focus has been on the privacy implications of the USDOJ request, the story highlights […]
Crystal Ball Gazing At The Coming Year in Tech Law
Predicting the future of Canadian technology law is challenging at the best of times, but during an election campaign prognostications are admittedly likely to be about as accurate as a coin flip. With that caveat in mind, my weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, freely available version) offers up […]
Recent Posts
Government Says There Are No Plans for National Digital ID To Access Services 
Government Reveals Digital Policy Priorities in Trio of Responses to Canadian Heritage Committee Reports 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 255: Grappling with Grok – Heidi Tworek on the Limits of Canadian Law 
Canadian TikTok Ban Called Off as the Government Hits the Digital Policy Reset Button Once Again 
The Year in Review: Top Ten Michael Geist Substacks
