Privacy Laws – Legal Drift Canada

Who Can Access My Facebook After My Death?

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We are living two lives, one in tangible form and the other in digital persona. According to statistics, 66.8 percent of the population in Canada accessed social media in the year 2019. It is expected that by 2025 the percentage would increase to 81.5 percent. Most Canadians have social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and others. But who owns our digital accounts post our death? Does post-mortem privacy prevent the right to access these digital assets?

Post-mortem Privacy

There have been several instances where the parents of a pre-deceased child wish to use or see the content of the deceased’s social media account. Does accessing this information violate the post-mortem privacy rights?

In Canada, for private sectors, personal information cannot be disclosed without one’s knowledge or consent under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The Act is applicable when a Canadian’s personal information is collected …

Privacy Laws Social Issues

Can you protect the privacy of your court documents from public?

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On December 15, 2017, philanthropist billionaire couple Bernard and Honey Sherman were found dead in their Toronto home. To date, the identities of their alleged perpetrators are unknown and deaths are being investigated as homicides. The estate trustees obtained sealing orders for the probate files. A sealing order prohibits access to information to anyone except the parties identified in the order. The sealing orders can be obtained by the court or mandated by the criminal code.

However, these orders were challenged by the renowned newspaper. Although the application judge sealed the probate files, the Court of Appeal unanimously allowed the appeal and revoked the sealing orders. The case was finally decided by the Supreme Court of Canada. Interestingly, the case delves around significant issues of court openness, privacy rights, and the right to dignity.

In Sherman Estate v. Donovan, 2021 SCC 25 (CanLII), the SCC evaluated the facts of …

Privacy Laws Technology Laws

Is Clubhouse a new threat to your Privacy?

Meghna 0 Comments canadian privacy law, clubhouse potential threats, clubhouse privacy concerns, data scrapping, opinion privacy clubhouse, privacy and canada, privacy laws in canada, social media platform canada privacy laws, social network privacy, social networking privacy standards

The Clubhouse is being viewed as the new market disrupter in the social media world. From celebrities to marketing companies, everyone wants to be a part of this invite-only audio sharing platform. The rules of the game are simple, you enter a room, share your views through audio, engage in a conversation, or just quietly listen to one. The drop-in audio app is a wonderful way to hear, listen and speak! But can Clubhouse protect your data and privacy?

Clubhouse Privacy Policy –

As of May 9, 2021, the Clubhouse released a privacy policy for its users. The key highlights of the policy are-

Personal information is used by the app to facilitate communication and to comply with applicable laws, however, they do not sell the Personal Information of the users.
The app may record conversations and use them to investigate possible violations of their Community Guidelines or Terms of

Privacy Laws Technology Laws

Can PIPEDA protect you against discarded sensitive data?

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One man’s garbage is another’s treasure! This phrase appropriately fits in today’s era, where criminals dig into the trash to seek and retrieve bank and credit card statements, expired credit cards, account statements, cancelled cheques, or any other form of financial documents. The search carried out in discarded material is called “dumpster diving”. Traditional dumpster diving has now evolved to carry out identity thefts and related frauds.

With businesses having voluminous data of their customers, mishandling of even one document can lead to catastrophic consequences. Are companies taking proper measures to tackle the disposal of personal sensitive information? Are PIPEDA provisions protecting individuals against dumpster diving?

Dumpster Diving – is it legal in Canada?

In Canada, dumpster diving is not illegal per se. The garbage in the public domain can be searched by any person. The Supreme Court of Canada in R v Patrick, 2009 SCC 17 that individuals …

Health Privacy Laws

Are Vaccine Passports a breach of your Privacy Rights?

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Coronavirus is claiming the lives of thousands of people every day. Some countries have implemented complete or partial lockdown to break the chain. The federal government has proactively taken steps to avoid community spread. The government also announced a massive vaccination drive for its citizens to curb the virus. According to the latest covid vaccinations statistics in Canada released on 4th June 2021, “over four-fifths of adults in the territorial capitals (80.3%) had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-April, with 38.5% of all adults being fully vaccinated, having received their second dose”.

Vaccination is considered an effective way to break the chain of coronavirus. It has yielded positive results for the fight against Covid19 and its variants across the globe. Canada is now contemplating opening borders and workplaces. But would the people be mandated to produce vaccine passports and what would be …

Privacy Laws Technology Laws

Right to be forgotten – helps you become invisible in Canada

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Can you ask a website or a blog to remove your information? In this digital age, can you choose to ghost your online presence? Does Canada recognize people’s right to be forgotten?

In 2015, a Swiss-based medical company used the photo of a child without her mother’s consent to propagate pre-natal tests for down syndrome. It was a shocking incident as the personal information of the child who was a Canadian citizen went viral on social media. What remedies did the family have under Canadian law to remove the content about their child?

What is the Right to be forgotten?

The right to be forgotten is a civil right by which an individual can request all his/her personal information be removed from the internet. It is also referred to as the right of erasure. However, some believe that there is a slight difference between the two. The right to erasure …

Privacy Laws Technology Laws

Artificial Intelligence in Canada – Laws, Challenges and Solutions

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Half a century ago, people would have rubbished the idea of having an “Alexa” at home. But the last few years have made it possible.

Machines are becoming more and more human each day. They are excellent listeners and efficient performers. Once a dream, artificial intelligence has become an indisputable reality in today’s world.

Simply put, Artificial Intelligence can be said to be a technology which is capable of performing tasks which would generally be performed by a mentally and/or physically capable living being such as making sense of spoken language, altering behaviour or solving problems.

The emergence of AI has transformed the way we look at technology. Nonetheless, AI comes with its own share of liabilities and threats. Is Canada equipped to tackle these challenges that lie ahead of us?

Possible Threats/Challenges and Artificial Intelligence –

1. Machine Conditioning – Machines work on the data fed in their systems. …

Privacy Laws

Collection of Bio-metric Data and Right To Privacy in Canada

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Biometrics stems from the Greek word bio which means life and metrics which means measurement. Thus biometric information pertains to an individual’s unique characteristics such as fingerprints, retina recognition, photographs, etc which distinguish him from the rest of the world.

From 31 December 2018, subject to certain exemptions, anyone who applies for a Canadian work visa, study visa, tourist visa or permanent residence is required to submit his/her biometrics. This poses certain challenges for both the individuals and the Canadian government.

Let’s first examine the policy relating to the collection of biometric data from the immigrants:

1. Certain individuals are exempted from providing their biometrics. This includes without limitation Canadian citizens, citizenship applicants (including passport applicants), or existing permanent residents; children under the age of 14; applicants over the age of 79; visa-exempt nationals; diplomats; US visa holders transiting through Canada and refugee claimants.
2. Upon submission, the fingerprints are …