Privacy

Steering facial recognition regulation away from the product

The last few months have been interesting. Two of the leading purveyors of facial recognition technology (Microsoft and Amazon Web Services) have all but admitted that the technology is not yet suitable for unsupervised automated decision-making. Apparently, humans are still… Read More ›

Covert DNA data banks in Canada: Quebec Court of Appeal is split

“Is the state free to collect the DNA of persons under suspicion of criminal activity by tricking them into giving up their DNA, keeping those samples indefinitely and using them as they see fit, without any prior authorization and without… Read More ›

A “technical” violation counts under Illinois biometric law

A year ago, I wrote about how the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act set off a wave of private litigation in the United States. A key issue that was being litigated was whether a plaintiff could seek liquidated damages and… Read More ›

Problematic Ontario Pawnbrokers Act to be repealed

An interesting nugget in the Ford government’s recently introduced Bill 66, titled “Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, 2018” is Schedule 2, which repeals the Pawnbrokers Act. The repeal of the Pawnbrokers Act will end legislation that has, for more than 100… Read More ›

Possible purposes for a smart city public digital stewardship

Sidewalk Labs (a Google affiliate) asserted in a blog post accompanying its October 15, 2018 smart city draft governance proposal that the Sidewalk Toronto project at Quayside “can set a new model for responsible data use in cities – anchored… Read More ›

Security Breaches and PIPEDA – Answers to Questions You Asked

I was asked many questions by a very engaged audience prior to, during and after a 2018 LexisNexis Canada webinar on the new breach of security safeguards provisions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). For the… Read More ›

Just how narrow is the tort of intrusion upon seclusion?

Enthusiasts for the tort of intrusion upon seclusion as the new frontier for holding organizations and their employees to account for privacy-related wrongs will need to regroup after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision in Broutzas v. Rouge Valley… Read More ›

The GDPR & Canadian businesses: applying the EDPB’s draft guidance

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has released draft Guidelines on the territorial scope of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The consultation period closes on January 18, 2019. Even though the Guidelines are not final, there are several very… Read More ›

Tips for handling a breach like a pro: part three

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in a timely and lively LexisNexis Canada webinar on “How to Handle a Data Breach Like a Pro.” The webinar is free and archived for you to view. For the past two Wednesdays,… Read More ›

Tips for handling a breach like a pro: part two

Last week, I participated to a lively LexisNexis Canada webinar on “How to Handle a Data Breach Like a Pro.” The webinar is free and archived for you to view. Last Wednesday, I posted the first 3 of 10 Pro… Read More ›