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Anonymous Video Analytics, Facial Recognition and Privacy Concerns
Éloïse Gratton February 24, 2019
The Guardian published an article today called “Are you being scanned – How facial recognition technology follows you, even as you shop“. The article suggests that if you shop at certain malls, you may have been scanned and recorded by hidden cameras built into the centres’ digital advertising billboards. In the last year, there have […] Read more
News
Court Denies Certification in Privacy Class Action: Personal Information is Not Necessarily Private Information
Éloïse Gratton February 5, 2019
A recent Ontario court decision clarifies the distinction between personal information and private information and confirms that the wrongful disclosure of personal information may not always amount to a violation of privacy. In Broutzas, 2018 ONSC 6315, the court refused to certify a proposed privacy class action involving the sale of new mother contact information […] Read more
News
OSFI Issues Advisory on Technology and Cybersecurity Incident Reporting
Éloïse Gratton January 30, 2019
On January 24, 2019, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions issued an Advisory setting out expectations for federally regulated financial institutions’ prompt (within 72 hours) reporting of technology and cybersecurity incidents. The Advisory will be effective on March 31, 2019. Federally regulated financial institutions should now take steps to prepare for compliance with […] Read more
News
Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation — 2018 Year in Review
Éloïse Gratton January 5, 2019
In 2018, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission continued to enforce Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (commonly known as CASL) and issued an important information bulletin regarding the CASL provision that imposes indirect liability for CASL violations. In addition, the federal government issued a formal response to a parliamentary committee report on CASL. Read our bulletin on […] Read more
News
SCC decision in R. v. Reeves – Data privacy: how much consent is enough consent?
Éloïse Gratton December 21, 2018
Last week, in R. v. Reeves, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the law around an individual’s right to privacy in relation to shared devices, such as personal computers (Justices Côté and Moldaver wrote separate, concurring reasons). In holding that a third party cannot waive an individual’s rights under s. 8 of the Charter of Rights and […] Read more
News
New 2018 ETHI Report – Democracy under Threat: Risks and Solutions in the Era of Disinformation and Data Monopoly
Éloïse Gratton December 17, 2018
The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics recently published its December 2018 Report : Democracy under Threat: Risks and Solutions in the Era of Disinformation and Data Monopoly. In late March 2018, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics began a study of the breach of personal […] Read more
News
Five Steps to Compliance with Privacy Consent Guidelines
Éloïse Gratton December 12, 2018
On January 1, 2019, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will begin enforcing Guidelines for obtaining meaningful consent, which impose requirements for obtaining legally valid privacy consents. Compliance with the Guidelines will require many organizations to adjust their personal information practices/procedures and revise their privacy policies and related notifications. This bulletin summarizes five steps to compliance […] Read more
Legal News
Max Jarvie joins the BLG Privacy and Data Protection Group
Éloïse Gratton November 12, 2018
BLG is very proud to welcome Max Jarvie in the Privacy and Data Protection Group. He will be advising and assisting clients on a wide range of issues, including privacy and anti-spam, distributed ledger technology (blockchain), information security, licensing and consumer protection matters. Max brings a strong technical and blockchain legal expertise. Before studying law, he worked in information […] Read more
News
Privacy Commissioner launches investigation into Statistics Canada’s recent request from financial institutions
Éloïse Gratton October 31, 2018
There has been news reports yesterday about a project by Statistics Canada (“StatCan”) to collect information from financial institutions about their customers’ financial transactions. A few clients have reached out asking about StatCan’s authority to request such data. StatCan is relying on Section 13 of the Statistics Act, which appears to grant the institution broad […] Read more
News
Privacy Commissioner’s Guidance for Compliance with PIPEDA’s Breach of Security Safeguards Obligations
Éloïse Gratton October 30, 2018
On October 29, 2018 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) issued a guidance document titled “What you need to know about mandatory reporting of breaches of security safeguards” (the “Guidance”) to help organizations comply with personal information security breach obligations under Canada’s federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). Commencing […] Read more