Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh

Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh

Privacy

NDP Calls on Government To Split C-13 While Stoddart Surprisingly Supports Approach

The New Democrats have called on the government to split Bill C-13, arguing that the cyberbullying provisions should be examined separately from the return of lawful access provisions.  Somewhat surprisingly, outgoing Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has expressed support for the government’s decision to include lawful access powers in the bill.

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November 28, 2013 1 comment News

Government Names Bernier Interim Privacy Commissioner

The federal government has announced that Chantal Bernier will take over as Interim Privacy Commissioner next week with the end of Jennifer Stoddart’s term. The government is currently advertising the position.

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November 28, 2013 3 comments News

Inside the Fight for Digital Rights in Canada

I presented the closing keynote address at the Parkland Institutes 17th Annual Conference: Facts, Fictions and Truth. In recent years, the fight over digital rights, including online privacy, digital copyright, internet surveillance, and fair access, has captured the attention of a growing number of Canadians. I examined the emerging digital rights movement in Canada and its close connection to freedom of speech and privacy.

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November 23, 2013 Comments are Disabled Conferences, Video

Lawful Access is Back: Controversial Bill Returns Under the Guise of Cyber-Bullying Legislation

In February 2012, then-Public Safety Minister Vic Toews introduced Bill C-30, the “Protecting Children From Internet Predators Act“. While the government marketed the bill as an attempt to protect children from Internet predators (and infamously accused opponents of siding with child pornographers), it soon became readily apparent that the bill was really about adopting a wide range of measures that increased police powers, stripped away privacy rights, and increased Internet surveillance. The overwhelming negative publicity led the government to put the bill on hold. Earlier this year, then-Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced that Bill C-30 was dead:

We will not be proceeding with Bill C-30 and any attempts that we will continue to have to modernize the Criminal Code will not contain the measures contained in C-30, including the warrantless mandatory disclosure of basic subscriber information or the requirement for telecommunications service providers to build intercept capability within their systems. We’ve listened to the concerns of Canadians who have been very clear on this and responding to that.

Nicholson’s commitment lasted less than a year (the same was true on lawful access in 2007, when Stockwell Day promised no warrantless access to subscriber information only to have Peter Van Loan backtrack a year and a half later). Yesterday, Peter MacKay, the new Justice Minister, unveiled Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act. The similarly-named bill is now marketed as an effort to crack-down cyber-bullying, yet the vast majority of the bill simply brings back many (though not all) lawful access provisions.

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November 20, 2013 36 comments News

Federal Court Orders Bell to Pay $20,000 in Damages Over Privacy Violation

The Federal Court of Canada has ordered Bell TV to pay $20,000 in damages (plus an additional $1,000 in legal fees) for violating the privacy rights of a Nova Scotia satellite tv customer. The case arose when Bell TV surreptitiously obtained permission to run a credit check by including it […]

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November 1, 2013 11 comments News