Ontario Government to Launch COVID Alert, a Contact Tracing App, in July June 26, 2020 Jennifer McKenzie, Amanda Branch and Raffi Dergalstanian The Ontario government is championing the "privacy-first" approach that was used in developing COVID Alert, which will be the first government-backed digital contact tracing app to be rolled out in Canada.
FCA Confirms CASL is Constitutional, but Limits Business Communications Exemption June 21, 2020 Molly Reynolds, Ronak Shah, Andrew Bernstein and Saambavi Mano The Federal Court of Appeal recently dismissed an appeal against two CRTC decisions regarding enforcement actions under CASL. In addition to upholding the Commercial Electronic Message provisions as constitutional, the Court provided clarity on the “business-to-business” and conspicuous publication exemptions, as well as the unsubscribe mechanism requirements.
Tech Giants Collaborate to Fight COVID-19 Through Contact Tracing Technology June 16, 2020 By Jennifer McKenzie and Amanda Branch The authors explore the partnership between Google and Apple, highlight a few key privacy considerations associated with the technology, and touch on some of the praise and criticism that the collaboration has received so far.
Panel Summary: Privacy and Access in Connected and Automated Vehicles May 30, 2020 Rajen Akalu Co-host Rajen Akalu summarizes the highlights of a Privacy and Access to Information Law Section program, which explored privacy, data protection, and innovation in connected and automated vehicles. The program was held by webinar on May 12, 2020.
Misleading Privacy Claims Result in $9 Million Dollar Penalty for Facebook May 27, 2020 Amanda Branch Relying on the "deceptive marketing practices" provisions of the Competition Act, the Competition Bureau fined the social media giant for its misleading claims regarding the privacy of Canadians' personal information.
Diminished Expectation of Privacy for Regulated Professionals May 27, 2020 Stacey Reisman, Ronak Shah, and Molly Reynolds The Law Society Tribunal's decision in Law Society of Ontario v Marusic highlights important considerations for both regulated professionals and regulators regarding privacy expectations relating to devices used in one's professional capacity.
Program Summary: Privacy Law Now – Exceptions to the Requirement of Consent in the Disclosure of Personal Information, Remote Workforces and Privacy in Health Information April 06, 2020 Rajen Akalu On April 1, the Privacy and Access to Information Law Section hosted a webinar to discuss exceptions to the consent requirements for handling personal information and personal health information in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Does your Pandemic Plan Align With your Data Security Plan? March 24, 2020 Molly Reynolds and Ronak Shah The authors highlight key privacy and security issues that should be considered by organizations implementing business continuity measures in the face of a pandemic.
15(+) Questions in 5 Minutes with Brian Beamish March 13, 2020 Jaime Cardy Next up in her series of interviews with notable individuals in the privacy and access to information law space, Jaime Cardy chats with the outgoing Information and privacy commissioner of Ontario, Brian Beamish.
Blocked Twitter Handles and the Identifiability Standard March 10, 2020 Katelyn Smith The author explores the conflicting, and sometimes surprising, manner in which Canadian courts and tribunals have assessed the identifiability of information.