Technology continues to advance with ever-increasing speed, and along with it, so too does the accompanying danger of cybersecurity risks in an increasingly digitized world. While in many ways our legal system has begun to engage with both new technologies and cybersecurity risks, I find that, as a law student, information encompassing these topics is often scarce at the school level. Considering how fascinating this topic is, this episode will aim to provide you with an accessible and candid discussion on the intersection of emerging technologies, data privacy and the Canadian legal system.
In this episode, I discuss one of the main avenues for recourse available to individuals who have had their privacy infringed; that is, the tort of “intrusion upon seclusion”. The foundational case that introduced this tort in the Canadian legal system, Jones v Tsige, will be discussed, as well as subsequent limits placed on the case’s breadth in more recent jurisprudence, like in the 2022 case of Owsianik, and the Canadian government Bill C-27. The discussion aims to serve as food for thought on the path forward for protecting individuals’ privacy, and how far liability should extend for corporate actors that fail to take necessary safeguards in protecting consumer information.
Aidan Brown – Producer, Host, Editor
Pro Bono Radio is part of the Queen’s chapter of Pro Bono Students Canada. The Pro Bono Radio team are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice.
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Research Referred to in the Podcast:
JURISPRUDENCE
Jones v. Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32.
Owsianik v. Equifax Canada Co., 2022 ONCA 813.
SECONDARY MATERIALS
Bill C-27, An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts, 1st Sess, 44th Parl, 2022, cls 9(1) and 57(1) to 57(3) (first reading 16 June 2022), online: <https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-27/first-reading>.
Kawser Ahmed, “Canada’s Cyber Security in a Globalized Environment” in Romaniuk, Scott N & Mary Manjikian, eds, Routledge companion to global cyber-security strategy (London: Routledge, 2021).
Michael (Mike) Schafler & Luca Lucarini, A decade since the recognition of the tort of intrusion upon seclusion: How Jones v Tsige has impacted privacy class actions in Canada (Toronto: Dentons 2022), online: <https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/articles/2022/july/27/-/media/408d4888b6964bca933409ee466c66a6.ashx>.
Molly Reynolds, Nic Wall, Shalom Cumbo-Steinmetz, “Liability for cyber attacks clarified by Ontario Court of Appeal” (29 November 2022), online: <https://www.torys.com/en/our-latest-thinking/publications/2022/11/liability-for-cyber-attacks-clarified-by-ontario-court-of-appeal>.
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