Privacy and Personal Information

Douez v. Facebook, Inc. 2014 BCSC 953 (CanLII)

  • May 30, 2014

Date: 2014-05-30 Docket: S122316. Griffin J. | Link
B.C. resident sought certification of a class proceeding against Facebook for the use of her name and likeness, without her knowledge or consent, in the company’s “Sponsored Stories”. Plaintiff claimed a breach of s. 3(2) of B.C.’s Privacy Act. In determining the identifiable class, a court considers whether the plaintiff has shown an identifiable class of “two or more persons”. Facebook relied on its records to show that the second proposed person did not appear in a Sponsored Story during the relevant time. The Court held that the Class Proceedings Act discourages discovery before the certification hearing takes place. In the present case, the source of information regarding who is in the class was predominantly in the hands of the defendant, but would be producible on discovery. The burden on the plaintiff should not be higher than that described in the Act; through the process of discovery and notice, membership in the class would be objectively determinable. Action certified.

Fontaine v. Canada, 2014 ONSC 283 (CanLII)

  • January 14, 2014

Date: 2014-01-14 Docket: 00-CV-129059. Perell J. | Link
Parties involved in the independent assessment process (“IAP”) for former students of the Indian Residential Schools sought directions as to whether the records produced as part of the IAP should be destroyed, maintained or archived.

R. v. Fearon, 2014 SCC 77 (CanLII)

  • December 11, 2014

Date: 2014-12-11 Docket: 35298. Cromwell, J. | Link
The SCC found that s. 8 of the Charter does notcategorically preclude any search of a cell phone seized incidental to a lawful arrest.

R. v. Fearon, 2013 ONCA 106 (CanLII)

  • February 20, 2013

Date: 2013-02-20 Docket: C54387. Armstrong J.A. | Link
Upon the appellant’s arrest, a police officer conducted a pat down search and located a cellphone. The officer examined the contents of the phone and found incriminating photos and messages.

R. v. Spencer, 2014 SCC 43 (CanLII)

  • December 09, 2014

Date: 2014-12-9. Docket: 34644. Cromwell J. | Link
Police identified the Internet Protocol (IP) address of a computer that had been used to access and store child pornography.