Canadian Supreme Court Delivers Huge Win For Internet Privacy 112
An anonymous reader writes For the past several months, many Canadians have been debating
privacy reform, with the government moving forward on two bills
involving Internet surveillance and expanded voluntary, warrantless
disclosure of personal information. Today, the Supreme Court of
Canada entered the debate and completely changed the discussion,
issuing its long-awaited R.
v. Spencer decision, which examined the legality of voluntary
warrantless disclosure of basic subscriber information to law
enforcement. Michael Geist summarizes
the findings, noting that the unanimous decision included a
strong endorsement of Internet privacy, emphasizing the privacy
importance of subscriber information, the right to anonymity, and
the need for police to obtain a warrant for subscriber information
except in exigent circumstances or under a reasonable law.
Re:But (Score:3, Informative)
Companies in the USA could use this as supplementary precedent if they ever get involved in a similar court case. International precedent gets used more often than you might think - for instance, I've heard they cited it in the case in Connecticut where they outlawed the death penalty. Part of the argument was that it had been outlawed at one point, but they cited European laws that outlaw the death penalty as well.
Re:But (Score:5, Informative)
What if the company involved is in the USA
It means nothing. Because in Canada, you're still subject to the laws of Canada if you sell, offer, or deliver a product here. And in 99% of all cases, the company either operates here or operates through a subsidiary. If the ruling couldn't go against a company because they had no presence, it would go after those who are distributing the product.
Re:This ruling .... (Score:3, Informative)
There's no liberalism in the liberal party. And living in Ontario, it's a case of the big cities deciding "what big city projects they want us rural folks to pay for." Never mind that ontario has a per person debt higher than california.
In order to help you see what 10 years of liberal policies have brought us I give you this list:
- The EHealth scandal
- The slush fund scandal
- The lottery corp scandals
- The CancerCare scandal
- The MPAC scandal
- The Children's Aid scandal
- The hospital consultants scandal
- The Niagara Parks Commission scandal
- The tire tax
- The electronics tax
- The cheap beer surtax
- The hidden hydro tax
- The hidden gas tax
- The 'smart meter' tax
- The 'Eco' tax
- No reduction in HST despite $4.3 Billion from the feds
- The forcing of WSIB on all construction owners
- The staggering increase in the Sunshine List
- The failure at Caledonia
- Selling out to the teachers & civic unions
- The blatant Nanticoke lie
- The squandering of record revenues
- The nanny-state banning of nearly everything
- The public funding of sex-changes while de-listing eye exams phsyio & chiro
- The billion-dollar-per-year burden of Family Day
- The billion-dollar flip-flop on The Oakville gas plant
- Saddling rate-payers with billions in subsidies to Samsung & Ikea
- The Ombudsman/Auditor-General condemnations
- Turning Hydro into a luxury for the rich
- The by-election briberies
- The refusal to correct foreign ownership of our beer market
- The outrageous property assessments
- The stifling of private health services
- The illegal and unconstitutional secret G20 law
- The acceptance of garbage-striker extortion
- The harassing labour inspectors
- The idiotic preoccupation with homosexuality lessons for third-graders
- Dumping the blue box program onto small businesses
- Imposing blood alcohol rules that punish the innocent
- The $58 Million 'severance' to tax-collectors who didn't miss a single day's work
- Socialized daycare
- Canceling the 'mandatory' LHIN review & giving their CEO's$15000 raises
- The failure at Caledonia
- Sneaking tax-dollars into Liberals campaign team coffers
- Raising tuition & auto insurance to highest in Canada
- Sinking Ontario into Have-Not status.
- ORNGE
- Gas Plants
- Pan Am Games budget overruns
- Ontario Northland Railway
- OPG pension scandal and deficit
Re:Maybe Not (Score:2, Informative)
Welcome to 1982... the BNA acts (only really named as such in 1867, later renamed the constitution act) were repatriated along with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to produce the Canadian Constitution in 1982, (Constitution act 1982(Canada) / Canada Act 1982(UK)). If you're referring to the fact that Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of Canada... note that is an entirely separate title for the same individual, than Queen of England...
The fact that they're not succeeding is what differentiates us from those south of the border. the fact that Harper has a very slim chance of re-election also makes him a bit scared to do anything too drastic at this point. Justin Trudeau is looking to be the front runner in the future. Being in Conservative Central (Alberta) I have no doubt that my next MP will be Conservative, but I hope for change in government we desperately need it.
Re:But (Score:4, Informative)
A US court can order it but the Canadian subsidiary would be required under Canadian law to provide the parent company with that information to hand to the US court. All quite legal. Parent company sends the request with the court order to the subsidiary and the subsidiary refuses, citing the appropriate Canadian law. The US court then fruitlessly fumes because the US parent has obeyed the order and sought the information and can legally substantiate that, they were just unsuccessful in that endeavour, the government can in some circumstances force you to try but in reality regardless of anything claimed they can not force you to succeed, you just must just genuinely try to succeed.