A recent CBC news story showed several Canada Border Service agents having posted damaging comments and pictures on their Facebook profiles. The pictures showed them partying and drinking while in uniform, and the remarks revealed an inability to discern between certain foreign passports. While the article will undoubtedly raise issues of national security, it should […]
Canada is getting serious on identity theft! Will sharpening the teeth of the criminal law be enough? To clarify the news headlines, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s has announced that proposed legislation intends to criminalize preparatory offences, such as gathering and/or trafficking confidential personal information for the purposes of deceit or fraud. While preparatory offences will […]
So Google, at the behest of the European Union, is compiling what could be the largest personal database the world has ever seen. Does this sound a little Orwellian to anyone? The privacy implications of Google’s actions should concern just about every user of the search engine and internet. As rightly pointed out by activist […]
The move to criminalize identity theft comes amid pressing calls to modernize current privacy laws that have be made irrelevant by rapidly evolving technologies. Identity theft, that is the unauthorized gathering, possessing of or dealing in identity information, is not caught by the existing Criminal Code. While several activities integral to the unauthorized use of […]
Cory Doctorow is a firm advocate for digital rights and based on his bio, today’s youth can relate to his childhood experience of learning to type even before learning to write. Although, as Doctorow submits, with the advent of technology and especially the world wide web come tools of digital spying and as a result, […]
The ever-growing world of online social networking is a creature with many faces. From organizing events to finding companionship, programs such as Facebook offer something for everybody. But as the recent fiasco involving Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers shows, beneath the superficial glitter lies a dark and potentially dangerous side to the technology. […]
While it may be somewhat premature to criticize the government on their plans to criminalize identity theft, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s recent announcement seems to demonstrate the government’s rather narrow appreciation for the scope of the problem. Based on a reading of the press release provided by the Office of the Minister of Justice […]
Several months ago, web giant Google unveiled the latest feature of their popular mapping website, Google Maps. Street View allows users to get a panoramic view of selected locations around major cities in the United States. Now it’s being suggested that Canada is next on the list for this feature, and there is controversy brewing. […]
Let me begin by saying that the Information Technology Era has arrived …so as I put down my ‘Most Obvious Statement of the Millennium’ award, I will explain what this means and why I introduce my first ever legal blog with this painfully obvious sentiment. Over the years the world has been getting figuratively smaller […]
Information is a very powerful thing. Indeed, in the mind of Canadian activist Cory Doctorow it would seem as though it is perhaps the most dangerous weapon of all. Speaking to the Associated Press, he compares the compilation of data by private companies such as Google to the acts of government entities who allegedly use […]