July 7, 2011
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>>
Leave a Comment » | 
Anti-Spam Legislation, E-mail, Facebook, Internet, Marketing, Online Marketing, Privacy, Social Networking Websites, Technology | Tagged: E-mail, Facebook, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Social Networking, Spam | 
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Posted by Brian Bowman
June 14, 2011
CJOB|680′s Geoff Currier recently asked me to participate in his live radio program called “The Nighthawk”. Geoff and callers raised a number of issues: “Spam, anti-spam legislation – is it getting better, is it getting worse, what do we know about how bad spam is in our computers right now?” To hear the answer to this and other questions please listen to the live broadcast recording here>>
Thanks to Geoff Currier and CJOB|680 for the invitation to participate in the program.
Leave a Comment » | Anti-Spam Legislation, Internet, Phishing, Privacy, Social Networking Websites, Spam | Tagged: anti-spam, Phishing, Privacy, Social Networking, Spam | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
May 6, 2011
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has just released the final report of her Office’s consultations on the online tracking, profiling and targeting of consumers by marketers and other businesses. “Most people have no idea about the rich trail of data they leave behind when they browse the Internet, use social networking sites, or engage the geo-location functions of their mobile devices,” the Commissioner observed. Organizations that track the online activities of Canadians must be more upfront about their practices, Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has concluded… “it comes down to meaningful consent, which entails informed consent”.
Leave a Comment » | Device Fingerprinting, Facebook, Marketing, Monitoring, Privacy, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Social Networking Websites, Technology | Tagged: Cloud Computing, Facebook, Internet, Privacy, Privacy Commissioner, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
May 4, 2011
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has called for legislation empowering her to impose substantial fines against major corporations that fail to adequately protect Canadians’ personal information from preventable breaches.
“I am deeply troubled by the large number of major breaches we are seeing, including serious incidents in recent weeks that have affected hundreds of thousands of Canadians,’’ Jennifer Stoddart said in a speech today at the Canada 3.0 forum in Stratford, Ont. “It seems to me that it’s time to begin imposing fines – significant, attention-getting fines – on companies when poor privacy and security practices lead to breaches.” To learn more, read the complete news release.
Leave a Comment » | Data Protection, Legislation Update, Privacy, Privacy Breach, Privacy Commissioner of Canada | Tagged: PIPEDA, Privacy, Privacy Breach, Privacy Commissioner | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
April 14, 2011
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>
Other related blog posts include Employee monitoring in today’s workplace and Social media: Is your organization’s head in the sand?
Leave a Comment » | Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Privacy, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Employees, Facebook, Privacy, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
March 24, 2011
David Stark of GfK has penned an excellent article about how technology is affecting the marketing research industry. In his article, David highlights broad trends, notably in quantitative research, and the increase in observational research and passive data collection. Among other things, he also discusses cookies, device identification and web scraping. This is a ”must read” for marketing researchers and a valuable read for others. I hope you check it out.
Leave a Comment » | Device Fingerprinting, Internet, Marketing, Privacy, Social Networking Websites, Technology | Tagged: Internet, Privacy, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
March 17, 2011
Of course, the answer is yes. But who’s the best service provider in Canada?
You see Canada’s private-sector privacy legislation (PIPEDA) requires organizations to retain personal information only “as long as necessary”, regardless of the format in which such information is held. So emails and paper records alike should only be retained as long as necessary.
I know that many organizations across Canada are struggling to develop business-friendly retention schedules that comply with the law. In some cases, these businesses are outsourcing their efforts. Do you work with such a company? Does your company offer these services? If so, I know that readers of this blog would welcome any positive recommendations. Feel free to post a “Comment” below with your thoughts.
Leave a Comment » | PIPEDA, Privacy, Retention | Tagged: Outsourcing, Privacy Compliance | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
March 4, 2011
The Competition Bureau announced earlier this week its participation in Fraud Prevention Month, which this year focuses on the growing problem of online fraud. Fraud Prevention Month is an annual education and awareness campaign held in Canada and around the world. The Competition Bureau’s website provides some great education and prevention information including a new interactive quiz designed to test consumers’ and businesses’ fraud awareness. I’d encourage you to take the quiz!
1 Comment | Competition Law, Data Protection, Identity Theft, Online Shopping, Phishing, Privacy, Security, Theft | Tagged: Customers, Identity Theft, Phishing, Privacy, Safeguarding | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
February 24, 2011
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!
Leave a Comment » | Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Privacy, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Blogs, Facebook, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Tired of reading? How about a video to help you learn about Canada’s new anti-spam law?
