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.
Recent Posts
- Record, punitive fine for Choicepoint's data disas...
- Incident: AMEX subsidiary loses laptop with person...
- Alberta Commissioner slaps computer reseller for n...
- How to not be evil as an online business
- Hiding your identity online
- University of Notre Dame server hack exposes donor...
- T-Mobile seeks halt to cell phone record sales
- The search trail you leave behind
- Techniques of the phone record brokers
- Phone tracking comes to the US
On Twitter
About this page and the author
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.
Privacy Calendar
Archives
- January 2004
- February 2004
- March 2004
- April 2004
- May 2004
- June 2004
- July 2004
- August 2004
- September 2004
- October 2004
- November 2004
- December 2004
- January 2005
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- January 2009
- February 2009
- March 2009
- April 2009
- May 2009
- June 2009
- July 2009
- August 2009
- September 2009
- October 2009
- November 2009
- December 2009
- January 2010
- February 2010
- March 2010
- April 2010
Links
Blogs I Follow
Small Print
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, January 26, 2006
Majority of internet users have no clue about what's collected about them when they search
The latest fuss over MSN and Yahoo! handing over information to the US Department of Justice spurred on the Ponemon Institute to find out what ordinary internet users know about their own personal data trail. Well, 77% have no clue that companies like Google collect information that can be traced back to them.
The obvious lesson from this? Internet users are, on average, clueless.
But what does that really mean to your business? Don't assume they are savvy enough to know what information your organization collects, uses and discloses. Implied consent is, in many cases, a fallacy because you simply cannot assume that they know what's going on. You need to tell them. And, in my experience, the more open, honest and forthright you are, the more otherwise suspicious customers will trust you. It's strange, but true.
See The Register's summary of the survey: 77% of Google users don't know it records personal data.
Labels: google, information breaches, privacy
The Canadian Privacy Law Blog is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
