RSS FeedLaw is Cool – Podcast #9
Show Notes
Total running time 21:15
0:16 Jacob Kaufman and Omar Ha-Redeye introduce themselves.
0:44 Jacob and Omar discuss final exams.
2:10 Omar introduces Lisa Feinberg of UofO Law and the Canadian Interest and Public Policy Clinic (CIPPC), who is one of the law students that filed a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner over Facebook.
3:19 Lisa describes the 22 violations of PIPEDA that the students identified.
4:12 Lisa explains the effort that went into developing the project
5:01 Lisa tells us how the Privacy Commissioner creates and issues recommendations
5:50 Lisa relates the implications for Facebook users, even outside of Canada
7:39 Even though Lisa uses Facebook, she tells us how much more she learned about the site through the project.
9:11 Lisa expresses her interests in social networking, and how she got involved in the project.
11:23 Jacob shares some Facebook policies that demonstrate their attitude to privacy.
11:45 Jacob quotes James Grimmelman, who likens Facebook to a virus. Omar says it sounds like something out of The Matrix.
12:24 Omar introduces an interview with Khurrum Awan, complainant in a case against Maclean’s.
13:30 Khurrum describes the turnout at the Tribunal by members of the media, and the importance of independent coverage.
15:10 Khurrum explains the procedural elements of the Tribunal, when we can expect a decision, and where the case can potentially go from here.
16:32 Jacob talks about the different ways that law students apply their legal education towards advocacy work in real life.
17:08 Jacob shares some of the things he learned from the Facebook complaint, such as how applications can obtain your information without your explicit consent.
17:45 Jacob mentions Robert J. Sawyer’s theory in Maclean’s that notions of privacy are themselves outdated, and that we should have chips implanted in us at all times to track our movements.
18:40 Jacob mentions David Lat, a former American prosecutor who left the law to blog on Above the Law, and how he documented his weight-loss program online. Omar relates how this could be used in the potential trend of obesity lawsuits we could see in the future.
19:54 Jacob describes a New Brunswick case on the disclosure of Facebook materials, Knight v. Barrett, [2008] N.B.J. No. 102.
20:34 Omar and Jacob sign off.
(Look for an upcoming post on a recent Ontario decision regarding Facebook)
UofO Law Students File Against Facebook
We’ve talked about how litigious law students can be, but these four Canadians from the University of Ottawa recently filed a complaint against Facebook to the Federal Privacy Commissioner.
One of the students, Harley Finkelstein, is quoted as saying,
There’s definitely some significant shortcomings with Facebook’s privacy settings and with their ability to protect users.
What’s interesting is how the complaint was raised.
According to Philippa Lawson, Director of Canada’s only technology law clinic, the students were reviewing Facebook as part of their winter term when they identified 22 potential violations of Canadian law.
The complaint was filed on behalf of the Canadian Interest and Public Policy Clinic (CIPPC), and can be viewed online.
The points of interest include failures to:
- Identify all the purposes for which it collects Users’ personal information
- Obtain informed consent from Users and non-Users to all uses and disclosures of their
personal information - Allow Users to use its service without consenting to supply unnecessary personal
information - Obtain express consent to share Users’ sensitive information
- Allow Users who have deactivated their accounts to easily withdraw consent to share
information - Limit the collection of personal information to that which is necessary for its stated
purposes - Be upfront about its advertisers’ use of personal information and the level of Users’
control over their privacy settings - Destroy personal information of Users who terminate their use of Facebook services
- Safeguard Users’ personal information from unauthorized access
- Explain policies and procedures on the range of personal information that is disclosed to
third party advertisers and application developers
Updates
Harley Finkelstein writes in to Law is Cool, and shares this news release.
