Apple’s New Privacy Feature
Hello! I have been exploring articles on the subject of privacy concerns, data collection and in particular Apple’s soon-to-be-released App Tracking Transparency features. Apple’s new feature will require apps to get the explicit permission of users before tracking their data. I have attached several articles and a brochure to this post. I was shocked to […]
Story about Enron emails
I just listened to an interesting episode of 99% Invisible podcast about Enron email corpus (You’ve got Enron mail). Apparently sometime around 2000 a mass group of Enron emails were released to the public (which included some private emails of employees). This corpus of some 600, 000 emails was then used by researchers to study […]
Google responds to Australia proceeds with a new code requiring payment to use media content
Hello Class, I hope everyone had a restful weekend! As I was browsing the news tab of Google (ironically) I came across an article that may be of interest. Australia is planning on introducing a new law which would force Google and Facebook inc to pay media companies for the right to use its content. […]
YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram remove Russian posts promoting pro-Navalny protests
Hi all, I found this to be an interesting video/article regarding censorship by YouTube and social media platforms of content posted in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/01/22/social-media-platforms-delete-russian-posts-promoting-navalny-protests-state-censor-a72701 Not a particularly novel story (of content-hosting platforms caving to political pressure) but I would be interested to hear what justifications are provided by […]
BC Government’s cybersecurity practices found lacking by Auditor General
Hello Class, I found this article in this morning’s Vancouver Sun. I personally find cybersecurity a prevailing issue that seems underemphasized in the public sphere unless a significant data breach has occurred. One that stands out is the privacy breach of personal health records of millions of Canadians that Lifelabs failed to protect in 2019. […]
BC Supreme Court ruled to have jurisdiction in defamation lawsuit against Twitter by BC plaintiff
Hey all, The BC Supreme Court ruled yesterday in Giustra v. Twitter, Inc., 2021 BCSC 54 that the court has (and will exercise) jurisdiction in a defamation lawsuit against California-based Twitter by a BC plaintiff. The ruling provides encouragement for Canadian plaintiffs attempting to hold U.S.-based internet platforms responsible for content accessed by Canadians. As […]
Welcome to the fifth cohort of Communications Law 2.0 @ Allard; or are you the first cohort of Communications Law 3.0?
The world is changing. As some of my kids would say: “It’s a mood”. Was trying to remember when I first did legal work on a media file. It probably was 39 years ago. Change, rapidly accelerating change (or the invocation, true or not, of rapidly accelerating change) has always been part of the landscape. […]
The Right to be Paid for Data
Hi Everyone, I hope your paper writing is going well. I recently submitted my paper on privacy in the data economy, and whether there should be a right for individuals to be paid for providing data. In my paper, I argue that there is substantial unfairness in the current bargain between Big Data companies and […]
What does COVID-19 mean for the future of sports broadcasting?
Obviously COVID-19 has put a stop to large gatherings of people, and this has also meant that for now, all major sports events have been cancelled. Originally some of the sports were playing played behind closed doors without spectators, but now all sports have either cancelled their competitions or suspended them indefinitely. The sports broadcasting […]
Apple and Google’s Contract-Tracing Specifications
(For a tweet-sized take: https://twitter.com/sanchom/status/1250508266171437056) Apple and Google have collaborated to create specifications for tracing COVID contacts using Bluetooth and cryptography ( https://covid19-static.cdn-apple.com/applications/covid19/current/static/contact-tracing/pdf/ContactTracing-BluetoothSpecificationv1.1.pdf, https://covid19-static.cdn-apple.com/applications/covid19/current/static/contact-tracing/pdf/ContactTracing-CryptographySpecification.pdf). These protocols look like they would actually preserve privacy. Your phone would generate a unique key each day. Your phone would also generate and transmit a unique ID (based on the […]
Check out theVideos of Interest to Law 423 on YouTube 
Communications Law
Join the Community!