Practice Area: Information, Data Security & Privacy

First CASL Decision Invites Long-Desired Feeling of Normality

· 3 min read

Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation is relatively new, onerous and far from elegant. Organizations have been weighing the risks the best they can – and in doing so have puzzled over how to account for CASL’s provision for penalties of up to $10 million. On October 26th, the CRTC issued a decision in which it held that a company…

Chambers Canada 2017 Recognizes Hicks Morley Lawyers as Leaders in their Fields

Hicks Morley has been ranked in Chambers Canada 2017 in the areas of Employment & Labour, Nationwide – Canada and Ontario and Pensions & Benefits, Nationwide – Canada. Stephen Shamie is commended for his ability to deal with sophisticated labour relations issues and is described as “knowledgeable and highly regarded.” Henry Dinsdale is regarded as a “go-to labour and employment lawyer” with extensive experience representing employers in collective bargaining and union certification matters…

Federal Privacy Commissioner Uses Ashley Madison Incident to Promote Good Information Governance

· 2 min read

Organizations subject to Canadian privacy law should be aware that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (together with the Australian Information Commissioner) recently issued a report on the 2015 breach of the Ashley Madison website – a breach that affected nearly 35 million individuals who had used the online dating site for adults…

Top Listed in Best Lawyers® in Canada

Hicks Morley once again ranked #1 in Canada in the field of Labour and Employment Law in Best Lawyers® in Canada, 2017. Hicks Morley has more listed lawyers in the area of Labour and Employment Law than any other firm in Canada. Hicks Morley lawyers have also been listed in the Employee Benefits Law, the Privacy and Data Security Law and the Workers’ Compensation Law sections…

Federal Privacy Commissioner Weighs In Against Sharing Details of Employee Discipline

· 2 min read

In a recently released decision summary, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) held that a bank acted properly in deciding not to tell the victim of unauthorized access precisely how it had punished its offending employee (Employee). The victim, the complainant in this case, was a neighbour of the Employee who happened…

Federal Government Consults on PIPEDA Data Breach Regulations

· 2 min read

On March 4, 2016, the federal government posted Data Breach Notification and Reporting Regulations (Regulations) for public discussion. Amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) enacted by the Digital Privacy Act (Bill S-4) will, upon proclamation, require private sector organizations to notify the public in circumstances where security safeguards involving their…

Court Recognizes New Privacy Tort: “Public Disclosure of Embarrassing Private Facts”

· 3 min read

In a case that can only add to the risk of privacy claims faced by organizations, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently awarded damages based on the new tort of “public disclosure of embarrassing private facts.” In Doe 464533 v N.D., the Court awarded damages to a plaintiff whose former boyfriend coaxed her to…

Successfully argued before the Information and Privacy Commissioner on behalf of a school board that text message data created on employer-issued phones but stored on third party servers fell outside the custody and control of an institution under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Successfully argued before the Information and Privacy Commissioner on behalf of a school board that text message data created on employer issued phones but stored on third party servers fell outside the custody and control of an institution under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.