Appeared in the Toronto Star on April 10, 2011 as The Boxing Day Shopper Who Upended Privacy Laws Sharon Curtis, an Alberta resident, visited a Leon’s Furniture store on Boxing Day in 2006. Curtis purchased a table, placed a deposit, but did not take immediate delivery of her furniture. The […]
Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh
Privacy
The Conservatives Commitment to Internet Surveillance
The second is to note that all the major parties have strong and weak points on digital issues:
- the Conservatives passed anti-spam legislation, defended fair dealing reform on C-32, and pressured the CRTC on the usage based billing issue (they also failed to strike a balance on digital locks and include a digital economy strategy in their platform)
- the Liberals made a strong commitment on digital policies in their platform, were the first to focus on open government, and called for changes to the digital lock rules (they also failed to take a stand on foreign investment in telecommunications and had MP Dan McTeague openly working with CRIA on an anti-consumer copyright policy)
- the NDP were the first to draw attention to consumer issues on copyright, to commit to net neutrality, and to take a stand on UBB (they also are strong supporters of an iPod levy).
While there are good and bad with each party, the Conservatives new commitment to lawful access – new laws that would establish massive Internet surveillance requirements and the potential disclosure of personal information without court oversight – is incredibly problematic for the Internet, privacy, and online freedoms. It requires real debate yet seems likely to slip under the public radar.
Jennifer Stoddart’s Shot Across the Privacy Bow
By virtually every measure, 2010 was a remarkably successful year for Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. Riding the wave of high profile investigations into the privacy practices of Internet giants Facebook and Google, Stoddart received accolades around the world, while garnering a three-year renewal of her term at home.
My regular technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that last week Stoddart used her first public lecture of 2011 to put the Canadian privacy and business communities on notice that she intends to use her new mandate to reshape the enforcement side of Canadian privacy law. Speaking at the University of Ottawa, Stoddart hinted that she plans to push for order making power, tougher penalties, and a “naming names†strategy that may shame some organizations into better privacy compliance practices.
Jennifer Stoddart’s Shot Across the Privacy Bow
stoddartcolumn Appeared in the Toronto Star on January 23, 2011 as Empower Privacy Watchdogs to Enforce Laws, Name Offenders By virtually every measure, 2010 was a remarkably successful year for Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. Riding the wave of high profile investigations into the privacy practices of Internet giants Facebook […]
Ontario Privacy Commish Sides With Opt-Out on Behavioural Online Tracking
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, one of the leading privacy groups in the U.S., makes the case for an opt-in approach, noting that it would better protect consumer privacy and is consistent with many other U.S. privacy statutes. It adds that:
Opt-in is more effective than opt-out because it encourages companies to explain the benefits of information sharing, and to eliminate barriers to exercising choice. Experience with opt-out has shown that companies tend to obfuscate the process of exercising choice, or that exemptions are created to make opt-outimpossible.
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