PitbLAWg may be AWOL on January 18, 2012.
In a USA Today article “TwitPic, WordPress to go dark for online SOPA protest” Yamiche Alcindor reported that WordPress, along with other websites will not available on Wednesday January 18, 2012 to protest the proposed US legislation, Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act.
WordPress is the host site for PitbLAWg. If WordPress is not available then PitbLAWg will not be online for the day. However, we expect that WordPress and PitbLAWg with be back up and running on Thursday January 19th.
PitbLAWg takes no position on the proposed legislation or on the blackout. Thanks for following PitbLAWg and we hope to see you back on January 19th.
Toyota advertising case raises privacy issues
In 2009, a woman initiated a lawsuit against a Californian advertising firm and Toyota U.S.A. because of an aggressive advertising campaign that she claimed was designed to make individuals believe they were being stalked by a criminal (which, in fact, turned out to be fictitious). While the charges are now being dealt with by the Los Angeles Superior Court the case raises issues in respect of the application of privacy principles here in Canada.
In 2008, Toyota Matrix advertised the “Your Other You” campaign which targeted young males. It encouraged individuals to provide someone else’s personal information, who would then receive an invitation to a fake personality test. What really happened was, the “victim” ended up receiving numerous disturbing emails from an imaginary soccer hooligan with a pitbull named Trigger. This impersonator claimed to be on their way to the victim’s house, who had no idea it was a hoax. In order to promote the advertising campaign, a fake social networking account for the stalker was even set up.
How would a similar case play out here in Canada? Under the PIPEDA framework , there would possibly be a violation of the law because of the alleged collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent. Further, PIPEDA’s requirement that the “identified purposes” of any collection, use or disclosure of personal information would not likely met. Finally, the reasonableness test, enshrined in PIPEDA, would probably be violated. In short, the facts pertaining to the case could put the relevant parties in the crosshairs of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and courts. As a result, the case should serve as a warning to advertising agencies to ensure that privacy law considerations are thoroughly canvassed with legal counsel before initiating campaigns involving personal information – especially where people are submitting friends’ data.
Two Minutes for Unnecessary Tweeting
The NHL is preparing to drop the puck on a league-wide Social Media Policy.
CBC reports the policy will include “a social media blackout window before, during and after games, as well as during practice and any other team obligations”.
Like any other legal document, the impact of the NHL’s Social Media Policy will depend on its more minute details, such as the duration of its blackout windows, and what constitutes “any other team obligation”.
You might be wondering why it’s taken the NHL so long to develop a Social Media Policy, especially given the highly publicized headaches social media has caused other professional sporting leagues.
The reality is that, while an employer might feel entitled to control what its employees are saying on social media, and when they say it, restricting employees’ social media usage creates a handful of legal issues in areas such as labour and employment law, intellectual property law and privacy law (to name a few). Most fundamentally, any restriction on employees’ social media usage constitutes a restriction on expression rights, which are given constitutional protection by Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
All of which is to say that implementing a Social Media Policy requires a heck of a lot of legal stickhandling. At Pitblado Law, we understand Social Media Policies, and we’d be happy to help your organization draw up its own social media gameplan.
If you have any questions or if you would like assistance, please contact me via email at buck@pitblado.com.
Pitblado Law launches the Whiteboard Sessions
As part of our new Brand identity and our commitment to clients, Pitblado Law has developed a number of new On-Line programs and services.
The first of these programs is the Pitblado Whiteboard Sessions – a weekly video blog on a wide array of relevant and timely legal topics. The Whiteboards are part of Pitblado Law’s continuing focus on the provision of quality information and services to the community. All of these programs can be found on the new Pitblado Law website under the PitU section.
For more information on our Whiteboard sessions, check out my video, where I outline what the Whiteboard Sessions are and what you can expect each week. We will distribute these Whiteboard Sessions through PitbLAWg, Linked In and Twitter.
Are you a spammer? What you need to know about Canada’s new anti-spam law
Tired of reading? How about a video to help you learn about Canada’s new anti-spam law? I’m delighted to let you know about a cool feature on Pitblado’s new website called the “Whiteboard Sessions”, which are vlogs (or video blogs). We’ve just posted a 3 minute vlog of mine entitled “Are you a spammer?“, wherein I discuss:
- highlights of the new law
- why you should care
- an overview of the rules
- penalties for non-compliance; and
- proactive tips to help comply with the law
To watch “Are you a spammer?” please click here>>
Pitblado understands law is changing and we’re changing with it
We are very pleased to let you know that our firm, Pitblado Law, has just launched a new and innovative brand into the marketplace. Click here to learn more and check out our new website at Pitblado.com. You can even click here listen to our new radio ad currently running on CJOB|68. Stay tuned, there’s lots more coming!
Thanks again to the Pitblado Team for all your input and for helping to make the product even better!
The case against Big Brother at work
Here’s a good article in the Globe & Mail’s Report on Business about the thorny issue of workplace monitoring. As I’m quoted by the Globe & Mail, “I recognize employers have risks and obligations to manage data, but on the other hand going to a more Big Brother approach isn’t the answer. And the privacy commissioner and the courts would agree with that.” Read the full article here>
Separating business and personal on Facebook: Is it possible?
Accountingweb has a great article here that deals with an issue that most business professionals on Facebook these days are increasingly facing.
”If you have a Facebook account, you’ve probably faced the dilemma of whether to accept a friend request from a business associate. Declining the invitation can cause wrinkles in professional relationships, but accepting the invitation may mean that you may not be able share as freely as you’d like on Facebook.”
The article provides a detailed way that you can configure your Facebook friends lists to help in these situations.
If you know of other similar articles that can help business professionals to better manage their social media activities, please share by posting a comment below. Thanks! And thanks to my colleague, Mark Wallace, for the head’s up about the Accountingweb article.
How is your organization managing the risks associated with social media?
I was pleased to recently deliver a presentation called “The Power & Pain of Social Media” with my colleague, Adam Herstein, to the Manitoba Association of Risk and Insurance Managers. Doing the presentation made me think that it might help your organization to highlight the following previous posts… Hope they help!
- Social media: Is your organization’s head in the sand?
- Social Media and the Workplace webinar: Watch now!
- Employee monitoring in today’s workplace Adam Herstein’s excellent post called That’s just not acceptable-acceptable use policies in the workplace
Social Media and the Workplace webinar: Watch now!
Thanks to everyone from Europe, the U.S. and across Canada who attended yesterday’s Social Media and the Workplace webinar. If you didn’t have a chance to attend, you can now watch the webinar here.
Related information on my “On the Cutting Edge” blog that may be of interest to you includes this audio link to my recent CJOB|68 radio interview with Human Resources specialist Barbara Bowes in which we discuss privacy issues in the workplace. And Philip Watts has some excellent posts on this blog that deal with the Competition Act issues raised in yesterday’s webinar including this one entitled Competition Law Compliance.
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Authors
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Mark Wallace
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Philip Watts
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Brant Harvey
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Caroline Kiva
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Adam Herstein
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Andrew Buck
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Benjamin Hecht
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Bradley Madison
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Rob Giesbrecht
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Ned Brown
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Candace Everard Grammond
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Lori Dobbie
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Darryl Antel
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Andrew Ogaranko
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Michael Puchniak
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Bill Gardner
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Tracey Epp
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Richard Buchwald
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Ron Greasley
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Administrator
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Douglas G. Ward, Q.C.
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Brian Bowman
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Courtney Chambers
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Bruce King
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newmandavidg
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