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

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! :-)