Professor Scassa has published a paper in the most recent issue of the Queen’s Law Journal, entitled “Journalistic Purposes and Private Sector Data Protection Legislation: Blogs, Tweets and Information Maps.”
Private sector data protection legislation in Canada does not apply to information collected, used or disclosed “for journalistic purposes.” In her article, Professor Scassa analyzes recent case law, and demonstrates the difficulties faced by decision-makers in defining the scope of these exceptions, particularly given the need to balance the public right to be informed with individual privacy rights.
Using blogs, Twitter and information maps as examples, Professor Scassa explores how changes in the ways information is consumed and disseminated may impact data protection law in Canada, specifically, which individuals and which information should fit into the journalistic purposes exceptions.