Privacy Law Expert Barbara McIsaac Addresses Privacy in Workplace Technologies

  • January 20, 2016

When you mention great privacy lawyers in Canada, Barbara McIsaac will come to the mind of anyone in that area of practice. Not only has McIsaac led a distinguished career in public and private practice, in which she’s handled several landmark cases; she also literally wrote the book on privacy law, as co-author of The Law of Privacy in Canada.

The Ontario Bar Association is pleased to welcome her to its 41st Annual Institute, where she will speak about workplace technologies for privacy invasion at the Feb. 2nd program, Privacy in the Workplace, the Scope and Limitations of Employee Privacy.

From The Law of Privacy in Canada: "One of the most difficult challenges, both on the worldwide scale and in the context of a federal system such as Canada's, is the coordination and rationalization of control and regulation of the collection and use of personal information. Not only is there the technological challenge posed by the Internet and other forms of electronic communication, which often make it difficult to ascertain which jurisdiction has responsibility for the entity which is collecting and using the information, but there are also the domestic jurisdictional problems involved in sorting out whether control over a particular organization or a particular collection and use of personal information is one that falls within the jurisdiction of the federal government or one that falls within the jurisdiction of the provincial government."

Currently a sole practitioner operating out of Ottawa, McIsaac previously was a litigator with the Canadian Department of Justice, a partner with McCarthy Tétrault and counsel with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. She served as Senior Counsel to the Somalia Inquiry and Senior Counsel for the Government of Canada for the Arar Inquiry, acted in several federal landmark cases including representing the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Chief Electoral Officer in significant issues relating to privilege and jurisdiction. In 2008 she was named special advocate for Bill C-3 (Security Certificates under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

At the Feb. 2nd program, she will discuss expectations of privacy in the workplace and how the test from Eastmond v. CPR on workplace surveillance applies to new technologies. She will address issues such as video surveillance, GPS tracking, cell phone monitoring and keystroke logs.

"In the employment context, the challenge also arises because of the different bodies that have jurisdiction over employment matter - courts, privacy commissioners, labour arbitrators and human rights commissions,” says McIsaac.

Join us at the Ontario Bar Association’s Institute on February 2nd to hear this privacy expert’s insights on privacy in the evolving technological workplace.

Learn about the other great speakers presenting at Privacy in the Workplace, the Scope and Limitations of Employee Privacy.

Register today!

[0] Comments