Last week saw a rather striking decision issued by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. 2102 saw the tort of “intrusion upon seclusion” recognized; in 2016, we now have the tort of “public disclosure of private facts”. Unlike the 2012 decision, this one came with a large damage award.

Whenever a new technology arrives, society always plays “catch up” to determine what norms to apply to the use of that technology. It’s probably how we got traffic lights after the advent of automobiles.  One “by-product” of smartphone cameras and the Internet is “revenge porn”. The Internet didn’t invent the problem but it sure magnifies it […]

When it comes to privacy and data protection, I often tell people that that while “rules” are important, the “exceptions” matter more. A recent decision out of the Ontario Court of Appeal illustrates this point rather nicely. It concerns two banks, a debt, a mortgage discharge statement and PIPEDA.

I can’t help but think there’s a movie in this somewhere. Love, devotion and allegations of betrayal are all present. Mix in smart meters and privacy and it becomes obvious why I’m blogging about this. It’s quite a fascinating story and it comes from, of all places, an unpublished Ontario IPC report, issued in September […]

I had previously written on the subject of electronic health records here, as well as about their governance here. The latter post was about the state of EHR governance in Ontario, especially when one considers legislative developments in Alberta and BC. It seems that the current Liberal government has decided to address the issue with the […]

As we mark the technical end of summer, I can’t help but think that we’ve already seen the privacy case of the year. Granted we still have another three months left in 2013 but R. v. Telus has a lot going for it – especially in this increasingly “mobile” world.

Back in 1997, Apple had an enormously successful ad campaign with the signature phrase “think different”.  You can see it here. A recent British Columbia decision illustrates the fact that Canada’s provinces do “think different” from time to time with respect to the shape of the common law, in this instance with respect to a common law […]

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 […]

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.

Imagine building a house without wiring it for electricity. Despite good intentions, millions of dollars, years of effort and, probably matching the historical norm of any visionary undertaking, a scandal or two, Ontario does not yet have an electronic health record (“EHR”). Despite some success with building networks and applications to support an EHR, the […]