How can we balance an employer's right to know about illness or disability and an employee's right to privacy? Editor's Note: A version of this important article first appeared in LawNow in 2019. It has been reviewed for legal accuracy in 2024 by the author. Requesting medical information … [Read more...]
Alberta Court Adds New Tort about Protecting Private Information
The tort of Public Disclosure of Private Information protects someone from having private information disclosed about them publicly. In September 2021, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench released its decision in ES v Shillington. Noteworthy about this case is that the Court recognized a … [Read more...]
BenchPress – Vol 41-4
Act Of Meanness / Lost by a Nose / Co-Mammas / The Internet and Hate Speech 1. Act of Meanness A Quebec Superior Court Justice recently heard an unusual estate application. A Montreal area woman was convinced that her deceased brother’s wife had been unfaithful to him. At a supper held after … [Read more...]
The Production of Cell Tower Records Breaches Canadians’ Privacy Rights
Justice Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in R. v. Rogers Communications Partnerships [2016] O.J. No. 151 has ruled that police cannot seek the production of cellphone records of thousands of Canadians in order to pursue investigations. This means that the personal information of … [Read more...]
Court of Appeal says Police Can’t Climb Through Windows and Spy on You
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently held in its decision in R. v. White [2015] O.J. No. 3563 that police officers do not have unrestricted access to enter common areas in residential buildings to gather evidence against an individual. The police had suspected that Mr. White was dealing drugs … [Read more...]
Random Alcohol and Drug Testing as a Complex Human Rights Issue
At the moment in Canada, there are some legal cases dealing with unions, privacy and random drug testing. The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) recently decided a case on the issue. See: Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Local 30 v Irving Pulp and Paper Mill, 2013 SCC 34 … [Read more...]
Data Privacy Day
LawNow Magazine covers lots of hot topics and privacy law has been a big one in the past few issues. In the latest issue of LawNow Magazine, the Special Report looked at developments in Internet law, including privacy and cloud computing. The Internet Law column in the same issue,” Who Cares … [Read more...]
Who Cares about Internet Law and Policy?
How familiar are these stories? “When I got to work this morning, our Internet service was down. There was almost nothing I could work on without my online databases and email.” “The place we went for holidays had no Internet or cell phone service. Wow, did I ever feel cut off from the … [Read more...]