Practice Area: Information, Data Security & Privacy

Misuse of Confidential Information – Are You Prepared?

· 6 min read

An employee’s misuse of confidential information housed on computers or electronically can expose an employer’s business to serious risk of harm and potential liability. Improperly managed, these situations can create a crisis: witness Bank of America and the WikiLeaks threat. Hicks Morley has been successful in assisting clients who have had their confidential information misused…

Ten Questions and Answers about Computer Use Policies

· 6 min read

It’s January 2012. Last year the Court of Appeal for Ontario recognized that an employee had a reasonable expectation of privacy that arose out of his personal use of a work computer. As discussed in a companion FTR Now called How the New Privacy Tort Will Affect Employers, this month the Court of Appeal recognized…

How the New Privacy Tort Will Affect Employers

· 8 min read

On January 18th, 2012, the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Jones v. Tsige recognized a new “intrusion upon seclusion” civil cause of action. In this FTR Now, we describe the new cause of action (or “tort”) and identify its significance to employers. THE INTRUSION UPON SECLUSION TORT Under Ontario law it is now clear…

IPC/Ontario Issues Significant Order on Custody and Control of University Records under FIPPA

· 7 min read

On November 7, 2011, the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario (“IPC”) issued a significant order for Ontario universities. It held that the IPC has exclusive jurisdiction to decide whether a record is in the custody or control of a university in the context of an access request under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy…

Hicks Morley Information and Privacy Highlights – Fall 2011

· 17 min read

Welcome to the Fall 2011 Hicks Morley Information and Privacy Highlights! This second edition of our new re-vamped publication includes many note-worthy decisions, including Vaughan (City) (Re) , where the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario found that personal information received on an unsolicited basis is not “collected” for the purposes of the Municipal Freedom…

Proposed PIPEDA amendments re-introduced as Bill C-12

· 2 min read

On September 29, 2011, the federal government introduced Bill C-12, Safeguarding Canadians’ Personal Information Act, which, if passed, will amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA“).   Bill C-12 reintroduces Bill C-29 (previously reported here), which expired on the Order Paper when Parliament was proclaimed dissolved in March, 2011.  Among other things,…

Personal information received on an unsolicited basis is not “collected”

· 2 min read

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario issued a notable privacy investigation report this past summer under of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “Act“). The complainants complained, amongst other things, that the Municipality in issue had improperly collected their personal information contained in correspondence they sent to the Municipality,…

Anti-spam Regulation Proposed Under Bill C-28

· 1 min read

On July 9, 2011, the federal government published proposed Electronic Commerce Protection Regulations under Bill C-28, the so-called “anti-SPAM” legislation. The proposed Regulations are administrative in nature and specifically provide definitions for terms used in Bill C-28, including “personal relationship” and “family relationship”. The Regulations also define the specific conditions under which consent would be…