Stop Hiding Behind the Phone Book, Mr. Toews
2 Comments
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 230: Aengus Bridgman on the 2025 Federal Election, Social Media Platforms, and Misinformation 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 229: My Digital Access Day Keynote – Assessing the Canadian Digital Policy Record 
Queen’s University Trustees Reject Divestment Efforts Emphasizing the Importance of Institutional Neutrality 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 228: Kumanan Wilson on Why Canadian Health Data Requires Stronger Privacy Protection in the Trump Era
Phonebook
I suppose if he’s so insistent on likening it to a phone book, then like a phone book, Canadians should have the option to opt out and be unlisted.
The problem with the article
After a fashion, the article is correct.
However, some of her comments don’t make sense to me. In the not too distant past, say, before the widespread use of the Internet and when the current laws were crafted, the uses that she talks about over the internet toward the end of the article were done over the telephone system and therefore accessible to police with a wiretap authorization. It is only in the past 15 or so years that much of this has migrated to the Internet.
She is correct, however, about the bill’s attempt to make access to the customer information available without a warrant… although in this case I can see the point, even though I don’t agree with it, that the information typically looked for is what would be published in an Internet phone book, had such a beast ever been created.