First Test of New Canadian Privacy Act

dave_mcmillen writes "In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) took effect in January 2001. An upcoming case will put the act to its first test: Canadian Business Magazine is reporting that in late May, Mathew Englander will sue Telus Inc. over their right to charge him two dollars per month to have an unlisted phone number. Two other test cases are coming up later this year."

Comments

Re:Ooo... A whole two (canadian) dollars

[Lazyhound]

So you wouldn't mind paying me two dollars a month to not spam your number all over the Internet?

[Comedy "Profit!" option here.]

Re:Ooo... A whole two (canadian) dollars

[iCEBaLM]

In Canada the phone companies *are* the phone book publishers.

-- iCEBaLM

Its the principle of it

[trajano]

Its not that it is $2, its the principle of it. People should not have to pay a single penny for their privacy. Privacy should be protected by the government (within reason).

No information about a person should be made public without the person's explicit consent,

Or unless there is a possibility of harming others in which case two or more authorized representatives (judges, etc) should authorize the search of information of the person.

Or unless the party is lawfully (not commercially) authorized based on a priviledge that the person has. e.g. if you were caught for careless driving, then the officer has the right to see your record (provided you give him your card) and inform the traffic authority of your offence.

Any entity whether commercial or government should provide a lawful explanation to an authorized party what information they require or need to publish about people before they actually do so.

Of course that's if we have an ideal world where politicians are not subsidized by commercial entities.

Vote Trajano! :-)

It's actually a charge for lack of "service"

[RhetoricalQuestion]

I've been a big follower of PIPEDA since its inception, and have used it numerous times to protect my privacy. Basically, under PIPEDA, all Canadians have a right to personal privacy. Any company who takes your information initially is accountable for what happens to that information subsequently -- even if its being handled by a different company.

However, the phone book is potentially a loophole.

Bell Canada asserts that if you choose to list your name and number in the phonebook, you have chosen to allow your name and address to be provided (read: sold) to other any company who wishes to call you up and try to sell you things -- after all, anyone could look up your number in the phyisical paper phone book. And because anyone could look up your number in the paper phone book, there's no problem if Bell -- working through subsidiary and direct marketing companies -- provides the phone book database to companies who wish to call you up and sell you things.

If you do not wish your number to be sold, you have to pay for your number to be unlisted -- you can't simply opt-out of having your number and address sold/shared otherwise. The fact that you have to pay for your right to privacy (no matter how small the amount) arguably violates PIPEDA -- at least, it violates the spirit of the law.

As well, if you must pay for your right to privacy, this could potentially set a precedent for other organizations. Moreover, there's no guarantee that the charge will remain $2.

I've spent a long time on the phone with Bell, its subsidiaries, and direct marketing companies tracing out how my phone number became shared. I've also discovered (by questioning the telemarketers -- which is my right under PIPEDA) that EVERY SINGLE telemarketer to call me has purchased my number from the phone book company.