Canadian privacy law hit Facebook hard in the Federal Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Privacy Commissioner of Canada v Facebook inc., 2024 FCA 140 [Facebook]. The unanimous decision held that Facebook failed to obtain meaningful consent from users prior to disclosing user data. The decision is part of a larger trend in Canadian jurisprudence […]
In R v Bykovets, 2024 SCC 6 [Bykovets], a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) found that Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses are protected by the right against unreasonable search and seizure in section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. Henceforth, police will require a search warrant to compel […]
In Ontario (Attorney General) v Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2024 SCC 4 [Ontario], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or the “Court”) held that the executive branch of the Ontario government was not required to disclose mandate letters sent to Cabinet Ministers because of society’s overriding interest in preserving Cabinet secrecy. The Court struck […]
In R v Bykovets, 2024 SCC 6, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) decided that Canadians have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses. As a result, law enforcement and investigative agencies will require judicial authorization to compel disclosure of IP addresses, or else be found to breach section 8 of […]
In Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v Manitoba, 2023 SCC 27 [CBC v Manitoba], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) unanimously dismissed from the bench an appeal from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (“CBC”) to set aside a publication ban.
In Owsianik v Equifax Canada Co., 2022 ONCA 813 [Equifax], the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) clarified the scope of the intrusion upon seclusion tort. In dismissing three separate appeals to certify class proceedings, the Court held that negligence leading to a third party committing intrusion upon seclusion does not itself amount to the tort […]
In R v Stairs, 2022 SCC 11 [Stairs], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) attempted to balance privacy rights and law enforcement objectives. The court addressed the question of when, and under what circumstances, officers can search an arrested person’s home without a warrant. The unsettling answer is: more often than you would expect.
The open court principle has long been a protected right under s. 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. In 1989, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) confirmed that “the courts must be open to public scrutiny and to public criticism of their operation by the public” (Edmonton Journal […]
In 2017, the bodies of billionaires Bernard Sherman and Honey Sherman were discovered in their home in Toronto, Ontario. Not only was the couple highly acclaimed for their philanthropism, but Barry was known for his pharmaceutical pursuits as the founder and CEO of Canadian generic drug company Apotex. Police deemed the deaths of Barry and […]
Every once in a while, a case comes along displaying unsettling and disturbing facts. In such instances, the law is often seen as a lighthouse guiding us through troubling legal issues. R v Jarvis, 2019 SCC 10 [Jarvis], is one of those cases. Mr. Jarvis, a high school professor, surreptitiously recorded young girls in his […]