The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.

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The author of this blog, David T.S. Fraser, is a Canadian privacy lawyer who practices with the firm of McInnes Cooper. He is the author of the Physicians' Privacy Manual. He has a national and international practice advising corporations and individuals on matters related to Canadian privacy laws.

For full contact information and a brief bio, please see David's profile.

Please note that I am only able to provide legal advice to clients. I am not able to provide free legal advice. Any unsolicited information sent to David Fraser cannot be considered to be solicitor-client privileged.

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The views expressed herein are solely the author's and should not be attributed to his employer or clients. Any postings on legal issues are provided as a public service, and do not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein or linked to. Nothing herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.

This web site is presented for informational purposes only. These materials do not constitute legal advice and do not create a solicitor-client relationship between you and David T.S. Fraser. If you are seeking specific advice related to Canadian privacy law or PIPEDA, contact the author, David T.S. Fraser.

Thursday, February 05, 2004

Misc: Slashdot - Decode Your Barcode, Get Your Personal Info 

An earlier blog entry referred to the Swipe Toolkit. For those who are interested, there is a discussion going on about it at Slashdot:

Slashdot | Decode Your Barcode, Get Your Personal Info
"Posted by michael on Tuesday February 03, @09:21PM from the mark-of-the-beast dept.

Chris writes 'The Swipe Toolkit is a collection of web-based tools that sheds light on personal data collection and usage practices in the United States. The tools demonstrate the value of personal information on the open market and enable people to access information encoded on a driver's license or stored in some of the many commercial data warehouses. Check out the Data Calculator, which shows how much your personal info is worth, and how the data brokers get it. It's all part of the Swipe Project, which will be on exhibition at UC-Irvine in March.' "

One of my favorite entries is a suggestion to use a large speaker to effectively degauss the magnetic strip on the back of the license. This will effectively thwart anyone who wants to swipe the info off the back. Legit users won't be able to swipe it either, but the author seemed OK with that. (Of course, becuase it is "Slashdot: News for Nerds" the thread digressed into a discussion of whether it is better to use a big speaker, a small speaker, a hard-drive voice coil or a bulk degausser.)

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