News
Privacy commissioner questions security of health records after doctors dieThe Canadian Press - 17 hours ago
REGINA — Gary Dickson has seen abandoned medical records turn up in some pretty bizarre places in his time as Saskatchewan's privacy commissioner - mouldy ...
Health authority slammed again for privacy lapseCBC.ca - Mar 6, 2010
Too many staff at the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority had too much access to personal patient information, according to BC's privacy commissioner. ...
Privacy commish slams E-Health CKNW News Talk 980
Ban on Burqa is an invasion of privacy: EU chiefOneindia - 47 minutes ago
"A general ban on such attires would constitute an ill-advised invasion of individual privacy." He said that the ban on the burqa could also lead to a ...
European rights head slams veil ban idea Sydney Morning Herald
Public openness v personal privacyBBC News (blog) - 25 minutes ago
Where to draw the line between personal privacy and transparency in public finances can be a difficult matter. And there are other countries which go much ...
Italy Convicts Google Execs To Protect PrivacyNPR - 19 hours ago
An Italian court recently convicted three Google executives for privacy violations after a clip was posted on Google Video showing a disabled student being ...
Google privacy execs convicted - a troubling precedent Lexology (registration)
Privacy Shouldn't Come With A Price North Country Gazette
Zuckerberg proves his relaxed attitude towards privacyUtalkmarketing - 6 hours ago
Social networking site Facebook has been embroiled in yet another privacy scandal, this time its founder Mark Zuckerberg allegedly caught breaking into ...
The Founder Of Facebook: Mark Elliot Two Minute News
'Telepad' cover needed for vote privacyChina Daily - Zuo Likun - 1 hour ago
... The "telepads" used for anonymous voting ballots at the People's Hall of China should be equipped with a cover-up lid to ensure the delegates' privacy, ...
Privacy watchdog rebukes Google for BuzzCBC.ca - Peter Nowak - Feb 17, 2010
Google says it wouldn't be practical to brief Canada's privacy commissioner on every product launch. (Paul Sakuma/Associated Press) ...
Google's digital library faces key hurdlesSan Jose Mercury News - Mike Swift - 9 hours ago
Privacy advocates argue Google could track and retain not only the titles people access through Book Search, but also which pages they view, and the notes ...
the indispensable frenemy Sydney Morning Herald
Decimal Points: The impact of Google Books Greensboro News & Record
Google and our digital future The Hindu
Chrome Browser Beta Adds Translation, Improves PrivacyPC World - David Coursey - Mar 2, 2010
Also new are privacy settings which may be implemented on a site-by-site basis. The new beta, released late Monday, works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, ...
New Google Chrome Beta Instantly Translates PC Magazine
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Smart Grid
Homeowners have a reasonable expectation of privacy over information concerning most activities that take place in their homes.
Therefore, absent a search warrant or a potential emergency situation, police aren’t entitled to enter a home to discover the activities taking place.
But what about electrical consumption patterns? Do homeowners have a reasonable expectation of privacy over their electricity consumption? Must police obtain a search warrant before they may obtain or access records concerning electrical consumption patterns?
People in the indoor marijuana cultivation business certainly don’t want police anywhere near their electricity consumption records.
You see, certain patterns of excessive consumption are indicative of a grow op. Also, abnormally low consumption doesn’t necessarily mean one is trying to conserve energy. It may mean that someone has bypassed the hydro meter and is stealing electricity.
Grow ops use large amounts of electricity, hence the desire to steal electricity.
I can’t see how the disclosure of energy consumption records reveal personal information concerning personal non-criminal activities taking place within a home. These records don’t reveal any personal or lifestyle information.
Looking at electricity consumption records doesn’t provide any meaningful information on what activities are taking place in the home, other than perhaps if there’s a grow op or electricity theft.
They don’t even disclose how many people are in the house. So how could there be a reasonable expectation of privacy in the consumption records?
Regardless of what I may think, the law is all over the map.
In Alberta, the latest word is police must obtain a search warrant before they can access consumption pattern records.
In Saskatchewan, police don’t have to obtain a search warrant.
The most recent Ontario case also takes the position no warrant is required. But all of this may change later this year when the Supreme Court of Canada hears an appeal in the Daniel James Gomboc case.
Gomboc was convicted of producing and possessing marijuana for the purposes of trafficking in Calgary, but the Alberta Court of Appeal set aside the conviction after ruling police should have obtained a search warrant before they obtained the electricity records. The warrantless search was said to have violated Gomboc’s privacy rights under section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms so the evidence seized, hundreds of plants, 165 kgs of bulk marijuana and 206 grams of processed marijuana, was deemed inadmissible.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear the Gomboc appeal in May. Normal practice is the decision will be reserved and not released until months later, leaving the law in a state of uncertainty in the interim.
If police require a search warrant to access consumption pattern records they’ll be at a real disadvantage. Often police have a suspicion, perhaps even a strong suspicion, of the existence of a grow op. The suspicion may come from various factors such as condensation on windows, strange odours, visitors coming and going at odd hours through garage or rear doors.
But they can’t get a warrant with mere suspicion. They need reasonable and probable grounds sufficient to justify a search. Without evidence from electricity consumption patterns they often won’t have such reasonable and probable grounds.
Our marijuana laws don’t make much sense.
We spend far too much money enforcing silly marijuana laws.
Having said that, marijuana grow ops hidden in homes in residential areas are illegal, can present a danger and should be closed down.
Allowing the police to easily access hydro records so as to better deal with this problem makes sense.