Canada

On July 8th,  the Federal Court ruled in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s (OPC) favour in a decision that touched PIPEDA’s application to search engines and what has become known in privacy law as “the right to be forgotten.” The decision brings clarity on whether search engines like Google,…

May 11, 2021 Mr. Chris Warkentin, M.P. Chair, Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Sixth Floor, 131 Queen Street House of Commons Ottawa ON K1A 0A6 Dear Mr. Chair: Subject: Submission on C-11 Further to my appearance before you on May 10, 2021, please find enclosed our submission…

You may have heard about the Notesolution Inc’ s undertaking with the CRTC to come into compliance with CASL announced Sept 21, 2020. We were curious why CRTC attached a monetary penalty of $100,000 – admittedly a stiff fine during a period that sees few fines under this law. This…

In its July 16 ruling, the European court declared the Privacy Shield, which has underpinned data flows between the European Union and the U.S., to be immediately invalid. Suddenly, as many as 5,000 companies, from banks to payroll processors and social media goliaths like Facebook and Google, are forced to…

The Tim Hortons breakfast empire is feeling the heat in its native Canada over the data collection practices of its mobile app. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), along with the privacy commissioners of the provinces of Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia is launching an investigation to…

By Jennifer Stoddart Quebec appears poised to adopt a strong new digital privacy law, a move that should be applauded. Bill 64, as the draft legislation is known, brings many commendable privacy protections for consumers. But several key provisions — notably its “equivalency requirement” — will be hard to implement…

A courier arrived at my apartment door, handed me a heavy cardboard envelope and asked me to sign for it. This was serious business, and Toronto-Dominion Bank was not messing around. Weeks earlier, I’d sent a formal request to see all my personal information held by my bank. It’s the…

Canada’s highest court has issued a ruling today upholding a federal law preventing third parties, such as employers and insurance companies, from demanding genetic information from individuals. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has decided the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act is a constitutional exercise of federal powers. In a curious twist, the federal government…

Data Security in Our Telcos  

It didn’t take long for criminals to take advantage of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that Canada has approved a COVID-19 tracing app to go into action. According to security vendor ESET, it discovered two fake websites designed to look like official Government of Canada sites were quickly created after…