Blog
News
Douez Privacy class action: B.C. law does not apply to Facebook
Éloïse Gratton June 19, 2015
Douez launched a class-action lawsuit in Vancouver against Facebook for breach of privacy over their “Sponsored Stories” program which is now defunct. She was arguing that the program manipulated users for commercial gain and that it was violating Facebook users’ privacy by using their photos in commercial ads without their prior consent. In a decision issued today, the B.C. […] Read more
Legal News
The Digital Privacy Act ( Bill S-4) was proclaimed today
Éloïse Gratton June 18, 2015
Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, the federal government’s latest attempt to reform PIPEDA was proclaimed earlier today. I had testified on S-4 back in March, so for my thoughts on this Bill, please click here. You will find a summary of the Bill below: New breach notification requirement Notification and reporting was voluntarily effected based on […] Read more
Legal News
Online Access to Court Decisions and Privacy Implications
Éloïse Gratton June 16, 2015
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner recently issued a finding pertaining to Romania-based website Globe24h.com which is republishing Canadian court decisions, allowing them to be indexed by search engines, and demanding a fee for them to be removed. This website received a great deal of media attention in the last year. Apparently, 27 complaints were filed […] Read more
Videos
Presentation on Emails and Privacy in the Workplace – May 7, 2015 (French)
You can view my presentation on emails and privacy from an employer-employee perspective (French). This presentation was made at the “Courriel Express. Après-midi d’étude interdisciplinaire” (Email and interdisciplinary study) event taking place on May 7th 2015, and organized by Vincent Gautrais and Marie Demoulin (teachers at the ÉBSI) in the context of the LCCJTI.ca project of the University of Montreal. Read more
News
Should users have an expectation of privacy in old or deleted emails?
Éloïse Gratton June 4, 2015
It was reported today that Twitter shut down a site that saved politicians’ deleted tweets. I also recently came across an interesting article entitled Your old emails are fair game for federal eyes. The article discusses the fact that in the U.S., under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, feds would be entitled to access 180-day old emails, texts and […] Read more
Legal News
Targeted Advertising and the “Reasonable Expectations” of Customers
Éloïse Gratton June 2, 2015
An article was published yesterday which pertains to Netflix testing ads surrounding its shows. An update was then posted beside the title of the article to specify: “only its own” to refer to the fact that Netflix would be testing ads to promote its own products and not enabling third party ads. This brings forward the issue […] Read more
News
New privacy books on revenge porn, cyberbullying, pornography and on surveillance in Canada
Éloïse Gratton May 29, 2015
Two privacy books have recently been released: Law, Privacy and Surveillance in Canada in the Post-Snowden Era This book was authored by Michael Geist. From the effectiveness of accountability and oversight programs to the legal issues raised by metadata collection to the privacy challenges surrounding new technologies, this book explores current issues torn from the headlines with […] Read more
News
Drones: Objets juridiques non identifiés
Auteure: Sixtine Balot, Étudiante au cours de DRT6929E Depuis plusieurs années, une nouvelle invention technologique suscite un vif intérêt au cœur de la communauté technophile. Suite à cet engouement croissant qui circule autour des drones, ce travail a pour ambition de déterminer les enjeux juridiques inhérents à cette nouvelle technologie et de ce fait mettre […] Read more
News
Damages awarded for the recording of intimate activities without consent but with limited broadcasting
Éloïse Gratton May 1, 2015
In the recent case of L.D. c. J.V., Superior Court judge Lukasz Granosik awarded damages to a plaintiff after the defendant recorded their sexual activities without her knowledge and consent, in a situation in which there was limited broadcasting of the recording. The plaintiff knew that the defendant had in his possession certain videotapes of his […] Read more
Events
Conference on Emails and the Law
Éloïse Gratton May 1, 2015
I will be participating at an event entitled “Courriel Express. Après-midi d’étude interdisciplinaire” (Email and interdisciplinary study) taking place on may 7th in Montreal. The event is organized by Vincent Gautrais and Marie Demoulin (teachers at the ÉBSI) in the context of the LCCJTI.ca project of the University of Montreal. It can be summarized as an afternoon of interdisciplinary study […] Read more