All About Information

Here are some links from the past few weeks:

• RT @slaw_dot_ca Ontario E-Discovery Rules of Civil Procedure Now In Effect http://bit.ly/52o84H
• The Case of the Vanishing Full Time Professor [NYT] http://bit.ly/7SkNsR
• RT @wiselaw Should a judge be on Facebook? – Toronto Star http://bit.ly/5NmXWM
• RT @PrivacyLaw “Warrantless Dorm Search Upheld ” http://bit.ly/6lZj9d
• RT @nggauthier Cellphone Searches http://bit.ly/8Ydrv6
• Replied to @omarharedeye’s comment on FB production orders here: http://bit.ly/868QH1
• SCC okays defence of resp. communication on matters of pub. interest http://bit.ly/8qNWbO http://bit.ly/7qLFqE Not rest. to pro. jnlists
• Leave to appeal in FOI case to granted by SCC today. SCC bulletin http://bit.ly/7YHVwy My summary http://bit.ly/4RRAN
• But SCC also denies leave in Tadros background check case. SCC bulletin http://bit.ly/7YHVwy My summary http://bit.ly/7Wqk
• RT @clarinette02 ‘School cyberbully wins free-speech case’ http://bit.ly/2AR3mp
• RT @slaw_dot_ca U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Review Right to Read Employee’s Messages http://bit.ly/6WzePt
• Colleges’ zero-tolerance suicide policy raises concerns http://bit.ly/8HCQdR full report here http://bit.ly/5p0yNe (via @NAICU)
• RT @keithhampson ‘Teaching’ universities proposed for Ontario http://bit.ly/8tHwtn (via @ITBeacon)
• Queen issues warning over paparazzi photos http://bit.ly/905UO2
• Great L2L podcast on the 4th Amendment and e-mail http://bit.ly/8s6rh2 Re this case http://bit.ly/4ygWnZ and this http://bit.ly/6VkoE1
• Answered a question by @kevin_lo on expert reports and privilege – http://bit.ly/5MXPBD
• Va. Tech report: Staff warned their families first http://bit.ly/73bu2A Revised Va. Tech report released.
• “National Public Radio: When Your Boss Wants Your DNA” http://bit.ly/7×4HCy
• @nggauthier Carpe Diem: Privacy Protection in Employment Act http://bit.ly/7SHm2l [Thx for the weekend read!]
• RT @ARMA_INT Secret Pentagon E-Mails: Trust Canada? ‘Who Knows’ http://bit.ly/7rWSyO
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Interviewing the Chief – Slaw http://bit.ly/6puZIb [Really cool!]
• Communications with Attorney Using Company Computer and Email Account Not Protected by Attorney-Client Privilege http://bit.ly/5MtG4p

I’ve spent the last couple weeks on the East Coast, have had a wonderful holiday and am ready for a new year of work. Here’s a pic from a beautiful day just after Christmas – not that the more adverse weather typically found in Halifax and surrounds lacks a certain charm.

See ya!

Dan

Here are tweets from the last few weeks you may be interested in (in chronological order):

• [Ontario] Hospitals prescribe transparency: http://bit.ly/3xcCgJ [Wow!]
• RT @keithhampson College Accountability, From the Left: http://wp.me/phVbB-nl [Downloaded. Thx.]
• Liked “The Tort of Forced Vaccination” at the Court.ca: http://bit.ly/2Jwai7
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Privacy yes… but now is the time for employers to manage H1N1 http://bit.ly/r17Dq
• Another IPC/Ontario e-mail custody or control case: http://bit.ly/2ql96g
• Good court.ca post on abandonment (of a privacy interest) and R. v. Delaa: http://bit.ly/4fKwty
• RT @CanadianPI Children’s Educational Records and Privacy http://ping.fm/oYEI5 [On my dnld list. Thx!]
• RT @caparsons (via @sectorprivate) Insurance firms tell privacy commissioner to butt out http://bit.ly/P7GkD
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Author Melanie Bueckert discusses employee monitoring law >> Slaw http://bit.ly/3uSVdC
• Attorney-client privilege in work e-mails http://bit.ly/1kTrvG [Nice and clear article]
• RT @pr1vacy H1N1: #media and message – http://bit.ly/9jzBA [Enjoyed this Kevin. Thx!]
• Thorough discussion of public interest immunity and deliberative secrecy in this October judgment by Morrisette J. http://bit.ly/1vCzhv
• The Media Equation – Taking Aim at Student Muckrakers [NYT] – http://bit.ly/30J1WB
• RT @jkehoe3 Mom of slain nurse Lori Dupont says [B]ill [168] falls short: http://tinyurl.com/yewhe3r
• RT @nggauthier On Personal Emails and the Law http://bit.ly/25MCD1 [Undoubted workplace privacy issue du jour]
• RT @rcalo Study: Surveillance can have negative impact on students http://ping.fm/ivCTi (via @CanadianPI) [Looks interesting!]
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Technology and Its Effect on Access to Justice, Advocacy, and the Judiciary – Slaw http://bit.ly/6BQUIJ
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Project management as a key litigator competency – Slaw http://bit.ly/68QuTT
• @pr1vacy Re subway suicides http://tgam.ca/EVO V. Interesting FOI decision here http://bit.ly/8RK1mX
• Alberta dialogue about access to information collected by first responders http://bit.ly/6vNymR (via @CanadianPI)
• FC rejects attempt to block 3P bid on government k from public access: http://bit.ly/4w8S84 No surprise. High water “Coradix” case dist’d.

I need to take this opportunity to give a big shout out to “Buffalo Littlebones,” our cat. Poor little guy seems a little out of sorts because of all the attention we’re giving to our human children. Yes, you whine incessantly until we let you out, then immediately whine incessantly to be let back in. Yes, it is annoying when you prick at our necks at 3 o’clock in the morning. Yes, that was pretty uncomfortable when you refused to get off my lap for 17 hours straight of driving. Despite all this, dear Buffalo, you will always be our first!

See ya!

Dan

Here are some links you may find interesting!

• Think ARMA’s Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles are useful http://www.arma.org/garp/
• Judge critical of defendant for setting up “straw person” to attack it with Facebook pics: http://bit.ly/oOJcH
• RT @pensionlawyer I’m quoted in Benefits Canada Across Borders re US-style DC litigation http://tinyurl.com/yenllmq [Nice Rachel!]
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Right to know week wrapup >> Slaw http://bit.ly/1aw8T6
• RT @slaw_dot_ca The debate about warrantless access to ISP customer information >> Slaw http://bit.ly/15Sd9C
• RT @thetrialwarrior A Procedural Tsunami: The Fundamental Change in the Role of Experts in the Ont Civil Justice System http://bit.ly/1Riigt
• RT @Pr1vacy RT @jimwhitman http://bit.ly/14LQjl Understanding the anxious mind [NYT. Fascinating!]
• The evolution of e-privacy: http://bit.ly/4pevIj Quoted in today’s Montreal Gazette on workplace e-mail privacy.
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Cloud computing and the legal significance of terms of service >> Slaw http://bit.ly/26TomY
• RT @thetrialwarrior (via @WayneMarr) [HBS] Should You Accept That Assignment? http://tinyurl.com/yj96zg3 [Need to hear this every so often!]
• Florida State releases docs in fraud case: http://bit.ly/219AgW
• RT @privacylawyer Canadian Government declines proposed reforms to access and privacy laws http://bit.ly/2NjloZ #privacy #foi #legal
• Commented on “Privacy and video surveillance on campus” http://bit.ly/guk3z
• RT @eMichaelPower new PIPA amendments require notice if service provider is outside of Canada. #privacy
• RT @sectorprivate Are College E-mail Addresses on the Way Out? http://bit.ly/11Cgrm
• RT @complexd Wortzman Nickle Law Firm Launches Canadian E-Discovery Blog – http://kuex.us/3075 [Welcome Susans!]
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Metadata as Record http://bit.ly/3HeWE8
• Drew Gilpin Faust: Leadership Without a Secret Code: http://bit.ly/2KI6Cf [Good one!]

You may have noticed that I’ve slowed down posting. This is not because I’ve tired of the blog, but because of my new commitment to Slaw.ca and my new expanded family. Both new commitments are very rewarding, especially new life with Hugs and Pens (below). Please keep coming back.

See ya!

Dan

Here are some recent tweets of note!

• RT @VBalasubramani blogged: “The Admissibility of Tweets” http://bit.ly/14mhII (h/t @mglickman)
• RT @slaw_dot_ca A comment on legal education, labour and employment scholarship and labour and employment practice >… http://bit.ly/1WRjvQ
• @pegduncan Canadian e-discovery case digest updated http://tinyurl.com/dbcvgb [Thanks Peg! Just used it on a file last night.]
• Liked “Is Your Company Clueless?” (about records management): http://bit.ly/UTev0
• Helpful constructive dismissal case for higher ed. institutions. Recognizes wide right to re-assign sr. admin duties: http://bit.ly/3gtyiS
• Great post by prof brenner shows how proof of motive is key to delineating just and unjust publication of personal info http://bit.ly/Lfao0
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Get to know… business simulation designer James Chisholm >> Slaw http://bit.ly/SjAT9
• RT @RossRunkel When is an Employee’s Off-Site Work (e.g., from Home) Compensable? http://tinyurl.com/pl5tla
• Presentation on managing employee use of social media applications http://wp.me/p6aAc-Fs
• RT @WieseLawFirm Interesting short post on trust in negotiations – http://short.to/qrpt (via @JamesDunningGeo)
• Finally got through Ohm’s anonymization paper: http://bit.ly/oynBu An essential read? Hat tip to @DavidCanton
• RT @stevewerby 13% of med school deans admit to student incidents involving sharing private patient data via web http://bit.ly/2HD1q5
• RT @CanadianPI Limiting employer liability for breaches of employee data http://ping.fm/st4uo [But wht abt due diligence/harm prevention?!]

I’m in on a Sunday taking care of some business before a surf holiday with family. We did get some family time this morning. Here’s a pic.  Happy times.

See ya!

Dan

Here are some links within the domain that you may appreciate.

• Privacy cause of action discussion in Oz:http://bit.ly/1FwHBO
• RT @sectorprivate Proposed Privacy Guidelines for BC Administrative Tribunals http://bit.ly/4MrIX
• [And on another note] McCarthys ordered to produce confidential financial data http://bit.ly/hi8dq
• BC Priv Comm OKs modified Bar Watch programhttp://bit.ly/70fhU Thanks @privacylawyer Not sure what to make of this.
• Right to privacy in public, sometimes http://bit.ly/FjYLi
• RT @sectorprivate Talking about Skanks With Dan Solovehttp://bit.ly/ApYa6
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Well worth a read – George Paul’s “Foundations of Digital Evidence” >> Slawhttp://bit.ly/QM4tT
• Universities and swine flu preparations (NYT):http://bit.ly/yxU8O
• RT @marciahofmann Big computer s & seizure case from the 9th Cir. http://bit.ly/QL7Vg. O. Kerr http://bit.ly/31d4aT &http://bit.ly/3Oeej1.
• RT @rcalo Can’t recommend this enough. Hope they keep it up! http://cyberlawcases.com/ [Will give it a shot. Thanks!]
• RT @Pr1vacy Brochure: Circle of Care: Sharing Personal Health Information for Health-Care Purposes [PDF]http://bit.ly/15KQfJ
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Social Media Background Checks >> Slawhttp://bit.ly/cY2US
• Enjoyed this Ontario judgement (USA v. Yemec) by Belobaba J.: http://bit.ly/3Qduqd Great story, interesting law, reads like a novel.
• All I will say is that this IPC/Ontario decision is worth a read:http://bit.ly/lQWqg

Here are some links to materials within the domain that you might find interesting (in chronological order):

• RT @TheFIREorg ‘Harvard Law Review’ Gets Lazy: Prestigious Journal Ignores Case Law, Defends Speech Codes http://ow.ly/15JIv2
• Instant messages: evidentiary issues – http://bit.ly/W5jq3 [Really enjoy the Cyb3cirm3 blog!]
• Liked “California Supreme Court’s Ruling that Hidden Video Surveillance Did Not Violate Employees’ Privacy Rights… http://bit.ly/a5Svj
• RT @keithhampson: Bain & Co. report on UNC-Chapel Hill Efficiencies http://bit.ly/17joUI
• RT @toronto_lawyer Greenspan’s star: waning or waxing? Financial Post http://bit.ly/2OMQ7
• Globe & Mail coverage on developing approaches to managing academic dishonesty: http://bit.ly/iLqr8
• Search warrants and stale evidence by the Cyb3cirm3 blog: http://bit.ly/N5Vli
• People can do what they want w public information: http://bit.ly/jeRVU [Love this issue!]
• Nice analysis of law enforcement interrogations and encryption keys: http://bit.ly/gWSKM
• Decision elucidates requirements for production of expert’s ‘foundational material’ http://bit.ly/ybNOU
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Humour and legal advocacy: Use it… with care >> Slaw http://bit.ly/1MfVpD
• Strong opinion by Andrew Cohen on anonymous bloggers http://bit.ly/34slg (via @sectorprivate)
• @jayshep How lawyers save the world. With disclaimers: http://bit.ly/803Zp [Fan of your contrarian views Jay! Shame they're so contrarian.]

I’m heading to Halifax for with Hugo this weekend. It was meant to be a father-son construction check and surf trip. I had visions of introducing Hugo to shin-high surf for the first time (now two and a half) out at Martinique. Turns out Bill is coming and all my Halifax friends are frothing about the pending “swell of a decade.” I’m trying hard to keep my expectations at zero, ’cause between the limited length of our trip, Hugo supervision duties and the short window of opportunity associated with Halifax hurricane swell, it ain’t going to happen for me. (Monday looks like the choice day, and the track below looks downright disturbing!)

Should still be a good father-son adventure though – Wanna go on another surf check Hugs?” – and I cross my fingers that things will remain safe. I’ll try to post pics over at Twitter if you’re interested.

See ya!

Dan

Here are some recent links from the domain:

• RT @sectorprivate: FYI Create Job Applicant Screening Policies Up Front to Minimize Risk http://bit.ly/I8Srq Thanks Greg! Been in a hole!
• RT @slaw_dot_ca: SCC decision in R. v. Grant: Do the ends justify the means? http://bit.ly/nJWBb [Timely and good post on important case!]
• Law student disciplined for Facebook posting and then some… First Amendment arguments fail: http://bit.ly/2DwRwO By Bowtielaw.
• Alberta student appeal case noted by ablawg.ca: http://bit.ly/1ZxkMX
• Vexatious and irresponsible questions (from BBC’s Open Secrets blog): http://bit.ly/yfhnl [Like the term "meta-request."]
• RT @altonassociates Judge orders B.C. Premier to turn over e-mail; may be linked to the 2003 sale of B.C. Rail: http://bit.ly/3uMdAB
• Record-keeping weaknesses limit accountability (Australia and FOI): http://bit.ly/venjY [Not endorsing, but noting w interest. Thx. Peter!]
• Couple of significant prosecutorial independence decisions from BCCA last week: http://bit.ly/V9HQu and http://bit.ly/zsKQK
• RT @toronto_lawyer: Criminal record: The stain that won’t go away http://bit.ly/Vc8zq
• RT @slaw_dot_ca Eady J, Paparazzi and Privacy >> Slaw http://bit.ly/KQszm
• RT @HicksMorley: Fair procedure and managing students at risk – http://tinyurl.com/ln255t
• Calls to re-investigate Virginia Tech shootings linked to mismanaged medical records: http://bit.ly/1kYrr4

Wednesday will be the second anniversary of the day I started this blog. In two years I’ve made 374 posts. I’ll keep the total visit stat private, but will tell you that this is not a high traffic blog, something I attribute to the technical nature of the content that I’m wedded to. All About Information’s highest traffic day was 283 unique visitors on May 13th of this year, where a link from Michael Geist on the Cole case gave me a good spike.

I’ve been torturing myself over this decision for the last couple of weeks, but I’ve decided to set the blog to terminate (at least as you know it) at the end of February 2010. I’m having great fun blogging still, but am a believer in forced change. If I keep going indefinitely I’m bound to get bored (or boring), so need to make a commitment to shake things up. Maybe I’ll feed this content into a text? Or keep blogging on information management and privacy in a new format? Maybe I’ll use different social media to stay engaged online and finally figure out how to use LinkedIn? I don’t really know, but if you have any ideas please make a suggestion!

One thing I’ll certainly do is try and rediscover my athletic self. I’ve picked a February end date because March is really the start of the paddling season here, with some beautiful water. No commitments yet, but if things go as planned I’ll do some good crossings later in the year.

Hope you’ve enjoyed and keep coming back for the next half year!

Dan

Other than the case law I’ve posted on, here’s what I’ve been reading since the last Roundup on July 5th: 

• Court: IP Addresses Are Not ‘Personally Identifiable’ Information http://bit.ly/B5T4o #PII (via @idexperts and @VBalasubramani)
• When workers steal data: http://bit.ly/FhLea This Law.com article went shooting around our firm today.
• What to do about binge drinking? http://bit.ly/30f4Lf [Responses to NYT editorial invite thought on duty of care.]
• RT @sectorprivate The Winston Report Summer ed. by Canadian Association of Professional Access & Privacy Administrators http://bit.ly/Z5ryi
• Great post on Goldman Sachs departing employee data dump: http://bit.ly/EXTy4
• RT @SmallFirm When lawyers spy through Facebook – ethics & regional networks [great post!] by @Leoramaccabee http://bit.ly/qgDdn
• Great post from ablawg.ca on Charter application to school boards: http://bit.ly/1a8gyO An important and unsettled point of law!
• And http://ablawg.ca on Charter application to universities: http://bit.ly/AePg4 Don’t endorse the position, but good post. Good blog!
• RT @CanadianPI: New York Times: Layers of Distance Insulate Journalists Who Use Private Information http://bit.ly/4Z7iX
• Teacher’s blogging not protected speech: http://bit.ly/15UQoR [From Fox Rothschild Education Law blog]

Every so often I re-jig my approach to digesting information from the web. Since I started on Twitter in January I’ve found it great for picking up on current affairs. I’ve liked the “living index” quality of Twitter so much that I’ve really been far too neglectful of RSS feeds – pretty much mass deleting everything rather than keeping up and digesting.

About a week ago I went back and did some serious weeding of my NewsGator feeds and eliminated any feeds that only broadcast the type of information I’m likely to get through Twitter. At the top of my new “desert island” list is the University of Calgary’s “ABlawg,” which struck a chord with the two posts linked above. I also like Foley Hoag’s Security, Privacy and the Law, Littler’s Workplace Privacy Counsel, Proskauer Rose’s Privacy Law Blog and K&L Gates’ Electronic Discovery Law blog via RSS.

Take care!

Dan

Here are my recent links of note from June 22nd.

If you’re interested in the law relating to corporate e-mail systems, be sure to check out Stengart v. Loving Care Agency Inc., linked through the fifth bullet below. It’s a New Jersey case about whether an employee waived privilege in solicitor-client communications by sending them through a personal internet-based e-mail account on a work computer. The e-mails were recovered by the employer, who claimed it could use them in post-employment litigation with the employee. The Court makes some extremely strong statements against employer control over “personal” communications on work systems – some of the strongest I’ve read.

I find the reasoning in Stengart troubling, but am withholding an opinion pending further thought. What’s immediately remarkable to me, however, is how value-laden these e-mail judgements are. Try reading the Alberta Court of Appeal’s recent Poliquin decision and Stengart back-to-back and you’ll see what I mean. This is not good in my view. As a management side advisor and advocate I’m not inclined to promote the enactment of privacy legislation, but if we are going to have enforceable privacy rights, enacting good and balanced privacy legislation might be a way to make such rights understandable. Without predictability, policy-making will be difficult and litigation of reasonable positions might be prohibited by risks that cannot be controlled. These thoughts to be continued at a later date.

• Liked Mike Fitzgibbon’s Summary Judgement in Employment Disputes: http://bit.ly/PHB7y
• RT @marciahofmann: Associated Press imposes strict social networking policy on staff. http://bit.ly/141mCZ (via @dmkravets) [Thank you!]
• Editing Tip: Spell Out Numbers One to Ten, and Don’t Repeat Them in Parentheses: http://bit.ly/6yVHD [Via @eschaeff]
• RT @sectorprivate Some Professors’ Jitters Over Twitter Are Easing http://tinyurl.com/ktxwrq [Thanks Greg!]
• RT @nggauthier The Perils and Promise of the New Jersey Workplace Privacy Ruling: http://bit.ly/U2Kif
• NYT editorial on college binge drinking: http://bit.ly/19J7N7
• RT @PrivacyLaw “Lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools” http://tinyurl.com/mf358p
• The Ann Arbour Chronicle argues for e-FOI:http://bit.ly/viW4J
• RT @PrivacyLaw: “Canadian gov’t: you have no expectation of privacy on the Internet” http://tinyurl.com/m5scnk

On a personal note, Seanna and I are new parents of Penelope Green Robinson. She was born two days ago and is very healthy. “Green” is from Joni Mitchell’s song “Little Green” – a lovely (though sad) song about a mother’s love for child. Here’s a pic of PG and her brother Bug, who has been very welcoming. As for me, I’m feeling very grateful for my family and for the wonders of life.

See ya!

Dan

Here are the links I’ve tweeted since the last Roundup:

• Liked Mike Fitzgibbon’s Summary Judgement in Employment Disputes: http://bit.ly/PHB7y
• RT @slaw_dot_ca New post on Slaw: The Justice Reporter http://tinyurl.com/lqy4fn Printed a copy for review. Looks good.
• Supremely secret: top [Canadian] court wants law clerks muzzled: http://bit.ly/YhW8J Not a hard find, but interesting.
• Interesting case on ER vicarious liability for EE privacy misdeed: http://tinyurl.com/lcqs3g Via @privacylaw
• Reading The Court’s Privacy is Dead post: http://bit.ly/13d1Ee
• Commented on the @a_cameron post on the Raitt tape case @slaw_dot_ca: http://bit.ly/flBni

• John Gregory pushes back on my comment on the scope of privacy rights and Raitt at @slaw_dot_com: http://bit.ly/flBni
• Privacy guy’s awesome digest is up: http://bit.ly/IKKYh
• I recall following someone who created this great “privacy wheel,” an internal communication/training aid. Can you help me find it?
  
• Thank you @smireau and @helply. Here’s the privacy wheel, posted by @privacynow from down under: http://twitpic.com/4b0f1
• Thanks for this (on U. Illinois admissions suit) @PrivacyLaw – http://tinyurl.com/l5hkdu
• Reminded of this timeless article in an firm project. Forget the Windup and Make the Pitch: http://bit.ly/mnPHV
• Like a couple from the @eschaeff “at the blogs” including the one from @AdamsDrafting on bad words in contracts. http://bit.ly/1pWMAa
• The CBA has published its new Privacy Pages newsletter: http://bit.ly/m6d70
• RT @RalphLosey Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case Over Computer Tech’s Right To Search Your Computer http://bit.ly/CUxXa
• Access and production requirements and records possessed by faculty members: http://bit.ly/byjGG Hot topic right now.
• RT @DougCornelius Structuring Internal Investigations http://tinyurl.com/of6×7o [Read this, and link to Miranda post, with interest!]

Been going very hard lately. I think summer is supposed to be a time for a little catch up, but I probably agreed to take on a few too many speaking engagements and had a couple of big matters to handle at the same time. I do find getting out and speaking a good way of learning though, and I have no regrets about my last month in that regard.

On the personal front, we’re expecting our second child very shortly. It’s about time, because Hugo (below) seems two going on ten. I just talk to him like an adult now, ’cause he seems to understand everything. Big vocabulary too – good words and bad!

The baby’s due just after Canada Day, and I’m heading out solo to our friends Dave and Janie’s wedding on Cape Breton island that weekend. A certain disaster waiting to happen, but rushing back to TO could also make for a good story. We’ve never been good at keeping things simple!

Take care and enjoy the links!

Dan