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Study Says DRM Violates Canadian Privacy Laws

Posted by Zonk on from the they-know-who-you-is dept.

inkslinger77 writes "DRM technology used in consumer media may be violating Canadian privacy laws, according to a new report. The study, done by University of Ottawa's Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, found that a number of services like iTunes, Visio, and Symantec's North SystemWorks require too much personal information in order to verify their users. 'Another issue cited by [study lead investigator David Fewer] concerned the disclosure of DRM-collected personal information from users of Intuit's QuickTax software."It wasn't the use of QuickTax itself that triggered the concern, but rather the use of Intuit's online filing service where we found buried in one of the disclosures the notice that, as an international corporation, Intuit would send information across the border," Fewer said.'"

14 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Could this apply in the European Community too? by MichaelCrawford · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The EC has quite stringent privacy laws, particularly regarding storage of personal info in databases, and has a record of filing anti-corporate lawsuits.

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    1. Re:Could this apply in the European Community too? by Wowsers · · Score: 3, Informative

      These "tough" privacy laws you speak of only apply when it suits the EU.

      --
      Take Nobody's Word For It.
  2. Norman, coordinate... by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

    DRM violates Canadian privacy laws...
    But Canada is the source of all piracy...
    But DRM violates Canadian privacy laws...
    But Canada is the source of all piracy...
    dweeeeeeeeeeee

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  3. Nice thought, but... by allcar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Who's going to pay to find out if this is true. Just because an academic study says it might be the case, proves nothing. A costly law suit will be needed to do that. Any volunteers?

    1. Re:Nice thought, but... by technicalandsocial · · Score: 4, Informative

      This was not just an academic study, this was funded by the federal privacy commissioner , and CIPPIC is a group of lawyers who submitted their findings to the commissioner. The PIPEDA violations will now be investigated by the privacy commissioner.
      I'm not sure why, but the original submitted left out the link to the actual report .

  4. Yes, It's Unfortunate by Nymz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "It's unfortunate that consumers have been misled by a lot of vocal critics because the truth is DRM is no more evil than the lock and key that's on your door, the alarm on your car, or the authentication system in your cell phone." - Christopher Levy, CEO of DRM solutions provider BuyDRM
    Except that when I unlock my door, and disable the alarm on my car, I don't need permission, and it doesn't spy on where I'm driving.
    1. Re:Yes, It's Unfortunate by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 5, Insightful

      DRM is like a lock on your door that someone ELSE owns the key to.

  5. Wrongheaded View by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    This view of DRM as 'evil' is totally wrongheaded. DRM allows consumers more choice in the market place, making music and other valuable content available on great devices. DRM allows interoperability, without sacrificing the rights of content owners.

    DRM can be used to protect your files. Set the read-only bit lately? that's DRM! It's simple, non intrusive, and protects you and me, how simple can it get?

  6. Re:Canadian Tariffs & International Jurisdicti by c · · Score: 4, Funny
    • does that mean you could buy blank media from Canada from another country and distribute whatever you want on it, claiming that you paid the copyright fee by virtue of the Canadian tariff
    • In similar fashion, does Canadian privacy law extend to non-Canadian citizens buying DRMed items?


    Absolutely. Canadian law applies to everyone, anywhere in the world. We're generous that way.

    Unfortunately, unlike certain other countries, we do have some logistical issues with enforcing our laws outside the Canadian border.

    We can offer you some really nice red and white "Get out of jail free, eh" cards. You have a colour printer handy?

    c.
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  7. Re:Canadian Tariffs & International Jurisdicti by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 4, Informative
    The blank media fee simply legitimizes private copy. Distribution is still illegal. However, courts have ruled that since P2P protocols compel you to upload (distribute) so you can download, then uploading is legal.

    Foreign media companies are lobbying hard to have a "new" copyright law passed, but since the governments we have had for the last 3 years are minority governments, that law is not exactly a very high priority of politicians who are more inclined to do what people want...

    And since the RCMP has admitted pulling piracy figures out of it's arse, the government is likely to be very sceptical about figured losses by any content industry, ever since it was foolish enough to railroad a law punishing camcording movies...

  8. Borders by multisync · · Score: 4, Insightful

    as an international corporation, Intuit would send information across the border


    Yeah, that's an interesting bit.

    The "free enterprise" party who govern the province I live in contracted the maintenance of our health care records out to a US firm, completely oblivious of the fact that - thanks to the PATRIOT ACT - the company could be compelled to turn our information over to the eff-bee-eye or the en-essay or one of those other alphabet agencies they've got down there, and it's illegal for them to tell us (their customer) when this takes place.

    I know this will sound like "well duh" to those in the US, but my Canadian brain has a hard time wrapping itself around the concept.

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    I don't care why you're posting AC
    1. Re:Borders by GNU(slash)Nickname · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ...the company could be compelled to turn our information over to the eff-bee-eye or the en-essay or one of those other alphabet agencies they've got down there, and it's illegal for them to tell us (their customer) when this takes place.
      I used to work for a Global 50 company. We had a project underway to consolidate all of the Exchange mailboxes in North America into a single data centre in the US, but wound up pulling out of the project and building a smaller Canadian data centre instead for exactly this reason.
  9. Link to the study. by callmevinny · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.cippic.ca/uploads/CIPPIC_Report_DRM_and_Privacy.pdf

  10. Square != Rectangle by WebCowboy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...but they're both quadrilaterals.

    In the name of DRM, we have CDs equipped with rootkits, we have personally-identifiable information being sent over international borders, we have music players phoning home to say what they're playing or storing...of COURSE DRM technology can collect private data. If the implementors of Digital Rights Management want to MICRO-manage those rights they obviously have to know exactly who's rights they're managing. That obviously means having to demand a certain level of disclosure from end users.

    To say DRM and privacy are not at least related is naive. DRM might only be tracking your usage of digital media so it can allow or deny access, but it's still tracking you, and that leaves the technology open to abuse by people who wish to turn DRM into something more than it was intended to be.