Practice Area: Information, Data Security & Privacy

Effective Pandemic Planning

· 11 min read

Employers have a general obligation under health and safety law to take all reasonable precautions in the circumstances to protect their workers. What does this entail, however, in a pandemic situation, such as the one currently facing employers? In our May 1, 2009 FTR Now – “Employer Bulletin: Influenza A(H1N1)” – we discussed some of…

Ban on Hand-Held Devices And Display Screens Starts In October

· 5 min read

In our FTR Now of September 24, 2009, “Cell Phone and Blackberry Restrictions For Drivers Are Coming Into Force: Is Your Workplace Ready?,” we provided you with a detailed overview of the new legislation restricting the use of hand-held mobile technology devices and presence of display screens while driving. Yesterday, the Ontario Government announced that…

Covert Surveillance Guidelines for Federally Regulated Employers

· 3 min read

On May 27, 2009 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada issued an OPC Guideline Document: “Guidance on Covert Video Surveillance in the Private Sector”. The Guideline Document outlines the Commissioner’s recommendations to private sector organizations engaging in covert surveillance in the course of commercial activity, as well as to federally regulated employers engaging…

Access and Production Requirements and Records Possessed by Faculty Members

· 3 min read

The Canadian Association of University Teachers recently published a memorandum about records in the possession of faculty members that raises some significant issues for Ontario universities. In a memorandum dated April 8, 2009, and now published on the internet, the association states, “Based on collective agreements, memorandum of agreements, faculty handbooks and on past practice…

Hicks Morley Information & Privacy Post – Spring 2009

· 42 min read

We’re happy to publish the first 2009 edition of the Hicks Morley Information and Privacy Post! As usual, we have summarized the most recent and notable cases relating to privacy and access to information, protection of confidential business information and the law of production. So what’s new? Much has been said about Leduc v. Roman,…

Medical Information Management For Employers

· 4 min read

We would like to build this bulletin around the diagram below, which illustrates a very common model by which employers manage medical information – i.e., one in which the employer seeks information from an employee’s treating physician through its own medical adviser. The point we’d like to make is that role definition is key to…

Hicks Morley Information & Privacy Post – Fall 2008

· 28 min read

We’re nearing the end of 2008 and are happy to present another edition of the Post. There’s been no shortage of significant developments in the law of information and privacy of late, including a rather welcome clarifying judgement from the Alberta Court of Appeal on the law of spoliation. The case, called McDougall, certainly does…

Ontario and BC Privacy Commissioners Release Guidance on Violence Prevention at Universities and Colleges

· 3 min read

The Ontario and BC Privacy Commissioners have released a Practice Tool for Exercising Discretion in the context of violence prevention at universities, colleges and other educational institutions. A copy of the Practice Tool can be found here. The Practice Tool is an important part of the Commissioners’ attempts to educate institutions about their abilities to…

Cloud Computing, Second Life and the University

· 10 min read

This short university sector bulletin raises an important policy issue about setting rules that govern the choice faculty and staff have in using the internet to perform their jobs. We would like to raise and invite a policy discussion on the legal issues raised by “cloud computing” and the increasing business use of consumer-marketed internet…