- Big Brother may want to watch you, but you are legally
entitled to flick the off switch.
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- That is the implication of the Personal Information Protection
and Electronic Documents Act (PIPED), which makes it illegal for any private
company to collect personal information on an individual without their
expressed consent or a warrant.
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- "I could walk into a bank and ask them to turn off
the camera because it violates my privacy rights," said Peter Mantas,
a technology lawyer in Ottawa for law firm Heenan and Blaikie.
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- "That would certainly put them in a huff ... (but)
it would be against the law for the bank manager to decline."
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- People can also request that a security camera in a convenience
store be turned off while they are in the premises.
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- Last month, in the first decision under the act, which
came into effect Jan. 1, federal Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski
told a Yellowknife security company the installation of street surveillance
cameras is unlawful.
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- "People have the right to go about their business
without feeling that their actions are being systematically observed and
monitored," said Mr. Radwanski.
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- The privacy commissioner has since launched an investigation
into the issue of video surveillance monitoring and will not comment on
particular cases until that investigation is completed.
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- Mr. Mantas says the act has broader implications for
workplace surveillance of employees and for the use of video for consumer
profiling than have yet to be realized. Moreover, although the act would
allow a security video to be handed over to police if it showed evidence
of criminal activity, in theory, if you can shut off the bank camera and
then commit a robbery, there would be no proof to hand over.
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- "It means a lot because it's going to compromise
investigations," said Sgt. Loretta Ronchin, of the Greater Sudbury
Police Service. "I'm going to be really interested to see what happens."
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- Sudbury became the first Canadian city to use closed-circuit
television monitoring of public streets in 1996. Sgt. Ronchin says in the
five years since their "lion's eye in the sky" was introduced,
there has been a 38-per-cent reduction in robberies and assaults. They
have five cameras that feed into the Sudbury police station.
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- London, Ont., Winnipeg and Toronto also opted for such
systems and various cities, including Calgary and Kelowna, are currently
looking to install cameras in public areas.
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- But Mr. Mantas suspects the PIPED Act may not be applied
to street monitoring done directly by police because the act covers private
organizations. Government bodies are covered by their own laws, which
Mr. Mantas characterized as much more relaxed.
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- "I think it's quite troubling," said Mr. Mantas,
of the public-private divide. "Are we to see a situation where people's
privacy is being enhanced in the private sector, but it is being less
protected at the level of the state?"
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- Mr. Radwanski ruled that both live and recorded video
pictures qualify as "personal information" under the act. However,
he did acknowledge there may be instances where it is appropriate for
public places to be monitored for public safety reasons, but that such
surveillance must be limited to instances where there is a demonstrated
need.
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- "I would think that the invasion of privacy is dwarfed
by the crime prevention that video provides," said Steve Kelly, spokesman
for the Canadian Alarm and Security Association. "If you don't have
anything to hide, why should you be upset with someone taking your picture?"
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