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.
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
At least Paxx Telecom LLC thinks so. They have just issued a press release advertising that their service lets you thumb your nose at the NSA, et al:
Phone Company, In Response To Concerns About Phone Privacy, Shows Customers How To Tell The NSA To Take A Hike - Yahoo! News(PRWEB) - Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) May 24, 2006 -- The recent revelation first made by USA Today that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been commandeering phone records of tens of millions of ordinary Americans has shocked those who cherish their privacy and do not agree with unnecessary snooping by their government.
It’s hard to know which phone companies are prepared to protect the privacy of telephone records from the NSA’s prying eyes. Certainly many of the nation’s largest phone companies are not, according to USA Today.
With the cooperation of the nations largest phone companies, the NSA has amassed the largest ever database of “call detail” information including who called what number, when and for how long.
Less understood is that while the public is “assured” no personal data is being collected, it’s only a small step required in order to “connect-the-dots”. Revealing the owner of most phone numbers is often as simple as typing the number into Google.
Even a pre-paid calling card purchased for cash is not anonymous. All calls originating from that card are recorded based on their authorization code, and it’s just a few simple steps to identify the caller.
“This is nothing new”, reports Paul Schmidt, CEO of Paxx Telecom LLC. “We reported back in 2002 that the a number of the major phone companies informed their customers that they intended to distribute or sell customers’ private information after a Federal Court gave them blanket permission to do so.”
“At Paxx Telecom, our records are secured offsite and we guarantee never to turn over any records to the government or anyone else without a court order. All our customers need do is dial a short access number in front of the number they want to reach. As a result, the local phone company will show only the connection to Paxx Telecom. It will have no record of the actual number the customer talked to", he said. “In addition, we keep call records on our servers only temporarily to give customers access to verify proper invoicing, after which the calling information will be extinguished.”
Paxx Telecom LLC is a privately owned long distance provider, incorporated in the state of Arizona in 1999. Paxx Telecom offers domestic and international long distance services to residents of the USA and Canada, and it offers International callback services in most countries overseas. Paxx Telecom has agreements to use the network backbones of some of the world’s largest communication providers. For optimal call clarity, Paxx Telecom is using traditional voice-quality networks rather than VOIP or other Internet technology. Additional information about Paxx Telecom services is available at www.PaxxTelecom.com
More information about Paxx Telecom’s secure phone system can be found at www.paxxtelecom.com or by calling 1-800-664-4977.
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.