While there is no shortage of fear mongering about Canada’s anti-spam legislation, Ottawa-based law firm LaBarge Weinstein recently demonstrated what most organizations need to do in order to comply with the law as Canada transitions to an opt-in consent requirement for commercial messaging. The key requirement for those companies that […]

Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh
Privacy
Ontario Court Rejects U.S. Government Demand for Full Access to Megaupload Servers Seized in Canada
Many readers will recall that nearly one year ago, the U.S. government launched a global takedown of Megaupload.com, with arrests of the leading executives in New Zealand and the execution of search warrants in nine countries. Canada was among the list of participating countries as the action included seizure of […]
Government Caves to Lobbying Pressure on Anti-Spam Legislation
Canada’s anti-spam legislation was back in the news last week as the government unveiled revised regulations that may allow for the law to finally take effect next year. Canada is one of the only developed economies in the world without an anti-spam law and lengthy delays have created considerable uncertainty.
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that calls for Canadian anti-spam legislation date back to 2005, when a national task force recommended enacting laws to target spam, spyware, and other online harms (I was a member of the task force). The government passed the anti-spam law in December 2010, with many expecting a quick introduction of the accompanying regulations that would allow the law to take effect. After business groups criticized draft regulations released in June 2011, however, the government hit the pause button, leaving the law in limbo.
Government Caves to Lobbying Pressure on Anti-Spam Legislation
Appeared in the Toronto Star on January 13, 2013 as Government Caves to Lobbying Pressure on Anti-Spam Law Canada’s anti-spam legislation was back in the news last week as the government unveiled revised regulations that may allow for the law to finally take effect next year. Canada is one of […]
Supreme Court Confirms Privacy Survives in the Workplace
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada grappled with the question of workplace privacy and arrived a somewhat different conclusion. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes it ruled that the workplace environment may diminish an employee’s reasonable expectation of privacy, but it does not remove the expectation altogether.