This post first appeared at Privacy Perspectives on 15 May 2013.  As Canadian privacy professionals will know, 2012 saw a significant development in Canadian tort law with respect to privacy. While some lower courts have recognized an “invasion of privacy” tort or said there might be one, higher courts refused to countenance the existence of such […]

I’ve written about FATCA before, here and here, with respect to the privacy law implications of this American tax compliance initiative. However, I was recently presented with a letter on the subject that made me pause.  A noted Canadian constitutional law expert has raised a rather interesting aspect and it seems what may get Canadian […]

When one considers the subject of privacy audits, the first impulse is to ask about the purpose and scope of the audit,  followed by a question as to what privacy controls are in play. While purpose and scope can be more readily defined, privacy controls are not a topic one sees addressed very much and […]

Since the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decision in R. v. Cole was issued in October 2012, I’ve seen press reports, blog posts and law firm newsletter articles talk about the existence of computer-related expectations of privacy in an employment context. This is somewhat contrary to the conventional wisdom that employers, with notice and through […]

How can employers use locational information without running afoul of data protection laws? No doubt the question will appear more prominently in queries to lawyers as we evolve into a more technologically mobile society but the first place it comes up is in the context of motor vehicle telematics. “Telematics” refers to the merger of […]

I’m pleased… Enormously pleased… Cannot tell you how pleased… To finally be able to say that the book manuscript has been submitted to the publisher earlier this week. Talk about something consuming an incredible amount of time and energy. I’m informed by the good folks at LexisNexis that The Law of Privacy will likely see the light […]

Never write a book. I know I’ve not posted to this blog in what seems like an age. My explanation is two-fold. First, I’m working on a book on privacy law in Canada for Lexis Nexis. Between a very busy practice and that book, the blog…well, let’s just say it moved down in priority this […]

If you follow privacy law, you’ve probably heard about the case of U.S. v. Jones.  This American decision, issued last week, is the US Supreme Court’s latest take on technology and privacy. A 9-0 decision, the justices got to the same place by different routes. Unfortunately, for a GPS-related decision, it turns out not to […]

 I had the the pleasure of serving as the keynote speaker at Dalhousie University’s 2012 Data Privacy Day last Wednesday in Halifax. My topic was eHealth and Privacy: Issues & Implications For Society. I’m informed a webcast will be posted at some point so if you’re interested, I’ll post the URL when I receive it. The […]

Ontario’s Court of Appeal has issued its decision in Jones v Tsige and the result recognizes a common law tort of invasion of privacy. More technically, the court recognized a “right of action for intrusion upon seclusion” – one of several aspects of privacy.