Online law articles

Collection practices to avoid

A blogger from India has posted an e-mail of complaint that he sent to his cellular phone company, complaining about its collection practices. It appears that they make liberal use your calling records to track you down and to tell your friends and colleagues that you should pay your bill. Not a good practice and it certainly wouldn't fly under PIPEDA. We have the benefit of a similar situation that was considered by George Radwanski last year. In PIPEDA Finding #225, the Commissioner admonished a collection agency for leaving a phone message with a debtor's aunt that disclosed the existence of the debt. They had implied consent to leave a message to have the debtor call them, but disclosing the debt went over the line. Similarly, Radwanski found that a telephone company had improperly used personal information in Finding #61 by using called numbers to track down a delinquent customer. Just don't do it.

Below is an extract of the original blog post, which came to my attention via Engadget and TechDirt:

Manish Jethani - Unethical practices by Hutch collection agents: "[snip]

Last month, one of your collection agents, [agent's name and phone number], called up a friend and prospective client of mine, [my friend's name and phone number], seeking information on my whereabouts and requesting payment of the bill.

The aforementioned unwarranted and unethical act of [agent's name], on behalf of your department, has caused damage to my reputation with my client, potentially costing me business of several thousand rupees. It is absolutely unacceptable for a collection agent to get in touch with a customer's relatives, friends, clients, and any other contacts, regarding the customer's bill payments. Since I am told that this is standard practice at Hutch India, I am out to fight against it.

Here is what I am looking for:
Written apology from Hutch India.
Assurance from Hutch India that any such unethical practices currently employed by the collection agents will be discontinued with immediate effect.
Compensation for damages.

[snip]"

Australia begins review of private sector privacy legislation

The Australian Attorney General, Philip Ruddock, has initiated a review of private sector privacy legislation in that country.

Computerworld | Ruddock sets up privacy law review:

"Enterprises handling the personal information of customers are being given a second chance to influence the operation of the federal Privacy Act (1998). Federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock has announced a review of private sector provisions of the law.
According to a statement from Ruddock's office, Federal Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis has been asked to 'examine the impact of the legislation on the community and the private sector', with the review assessing whether regulation of the private sector has been a success since the introduction of national legislation three years ago.
Specifically, the review will consider whether the laws have achieved a 'comprehensive national scheme for the private sector that regulates how organizations collect, use, store, disclose and transfer individuals' personal information'. "

Interested readers should note that Canada's PIPEDA is subject to mandatory review, which will take place next year.

Article: Plan to match Canadian passport photos with terrorist watch lists in works

The Canadian Department of Public Security has been involved in a trial of facial recognition software that, they hope, will be used to match passport photos against the mugshots of known and suspected terrorists. I'll be curious to see the results of the privacy impact assessment, if it is released:

Plan to match Canadian passport photos with terrorist watch lists in works:
"OTTAWA (CP) - Federal officials plan to screen the photos of Canadian passport applicants against images of suspects on terrorist watch lists.
The Passport Office recently tested a computer program that compares a picture of a face with thousands of other mugshot-style photos and zeroes in on possible matches.
The office is seeking approval from the federal privacy commissioner to use the facial-recognition technology in processing passport applications.
The proposal has raised questions about the accuracy and potential intrusiveness of the system among those who study the effect of security measures on privacy and civil liberties. "

I did some looking around the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada website and didn't find the report referred to in the article. If any readers know where to find it, please drop me a line.

Re: F-bomb-dropping attorney gets worldwide notoriety

I was thinking a bit more recently about the story that was the basis for my previous post ("F-bomb-dropping attorney gets worldwide notoriety"). There is a second privacy aspect ... Thanks to the internet, the Chicago lawyer who left the message in question is probably going to be living with the incident for a very long time. It is now routine to google job applicants, contacts and just people you know. If he finds himself looking for a job or going on a blind date, googling his name will bring back this story as if it only happened today. I've heard it said that you should never write anything in an e-mail that you wouldn't wanted reported on the front page of the New York Times. This is a reminder that you shouldn't write an e-mail or leave a voice-mail that you wouldn't want on the front pages, either. The internet takes it to the next level, since it is all a quick click away.

SFL Friday -- Labor Day Edition

So that was some speech last night, huh? I mean the power, the intensity, the enthusiasm, the stagecraft, I think good people from both sides of the aisle can agree that Senator Dick Durbin quite simply NAILED IT.

Oh, you mean someone else spoke, too? He wasn't bad either, I guess.

Anyways on to a fruitful and exciting weekend. Thanks to that little Kraut Hurricane now swirling to our southwest, conditions do indeed look positive for a simply spectacular weekend, windsurfing-wise.

I do hope you all have a safe, peaceful, and enjoyable holiday, wherever the winds may take you.

BREAKING -- Charles Canady Newest Florida Supreme Court Justice

Charles T. Canady gets the nod:

Canady, 54, is Crist’s first appointment to the state’s high court. He will fill the vacancy left by Justice Raoul G. Cantero III, who resigned earlier this year.

“I consider this to be one of the most important decisions I will make as governor, because the Supreme Court justices make precedent-setting decisions that affect the lives of all Floridians for generations to come,” Crist said.

Canady has served on the 2nd District Court of Appeal since 2002. He also served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. He was general counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush from 2001 to 2002.

“It is an honor to be appointed to such an important post,” Canady said. “I am grateful to have the confidence and support of Gov. Crist, and I will work to uphold the Florida Constitution and our justice system.”

Let's look at some of the highlights. He helped lead the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. He voted yes to ban gay adoptions in DC. He voted against implementing the Kyoto greenhouse gas environmental accords. Here's his record on crime:

Voted NO on funding for alternative sentencing instead of more prisons. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on more prosecution and sentencing for juvenile crime. (Jun 1999)
Voted NO on maintaining right of habeas corpus in Death Penalty Appeals. (Mar 1996)
Voted YES on making federal death penalty appeals harder. (Feb 1995)
Voted NO on replacing death penalty with life imprisonment. (Apr 1994)
Life imprisonment for repeat sexual predators. (Mar 1994)
More prisons, more enforcement, effective death penalty. (Sep 1994)

He voted no on banning soft money and issue ads. He voted to decrease the gun waiting period from three days to one. Significantly for us lawyers, he voted to limit "excessive" punitive damages and to institute "loser pay" legal reforms.

Umm, congratulations Florida?

DMX Engages in Sexy Pillow Talk With Judge Schwartz

They say the guy has a way with words, and he sure did show it at his bond hearing in front of Judge Schwartz yesterday:

On Wednesday (August 27), X (real name: Earl Simmons) pleaded guilty to his Florida charges of attempted purchase of cocaine and marijuana and was sentenced to time served and a $483 court fine, lawyer Bradford Cohen told MTV News. Had the case gone to trial, he could have faced six years in prison.
But because X's most recent arrest was for missing a pretrial hearing for an Arizona drug case, he will remain behind bars while Arizona authorities have 15 days to extradite DMX to their state, where he'll post bond and be released. If Arizona officials fail to pick him up within that time, he will be released, Cohen explained.
Prior to the plea deal, Judge Lawrence Schwartz denied the rapper's request for bond on Tuesday. When Schwartz set an October 3 court date for the now-closed case, the rapper curtly replied, "I ain't coming back on f---ing October 3."
While X was being led away, Schwartz scolded him. "Oh, that just ingratiated you to me — I've never heard the F-word before," he said, before turning to Cohen and saying, "You need to tell your client that I've heard the F-word before. ... He can send it to me anytime he wants to come in, if that's what makes him happy, but he certainly didn't help his stature any with what he mumbled as he left the podium."

What an f***ing dope.

Employment hope, despite cooling in on-campus recruiting

The New York Times ran an article on Tuesday titled “Downturn Dims Prospects Even at Top Law Schools.” It was reported that at many top tier law schools, on-campus interviews are down by a third to a half compared with a year ago. Far fewer law firms are interviewing on campus, and those that remain are offering a reduced number of positions. Two second-year students, both with over $200K in debt, lament in the article that, absent an offer from a big law firm, they don’t know how they’ll manage.

KU Law has experienced a similar cooling in on-campus recruiting, as the number of our fall on-campus employers has fallen by over one-third from a total of 72 in the fall of 2008. Several employers that consistently recruit on campus will forego all on-campus interviewing in 2009-10. Others registered for fall interviews but later withdrew, citing economic uncertainty. There remains a small group of undecided employers. I anticipate that at least 10-12 will ultimately choose to participate in our fall program, so at best we’ll top out at approximately 50 fall on-campus employers.

The employers who do participate will be offering fewer summer clerkship opportunities than in past years, and the acceptance rate of their offers will be high.

Students who do not receive offers from on-campus employers should not despair. KU Law has always offered a top-notch, affordable legal education, and most students accrue far less debt than their peers at NYU and Penn who are quoted in the Times. In uncertain economic times, graduating from law school with a manageable debt load is of heightened importance. When jobs are less abundant, it pays to have the financial flexibility to accept a summer or full-time position that offers a good opportunity to gain marketable experience, if not a fat paycheck.

To weather this economic storm, students will be encouraged to gain experience through our excellent law school clinics, with small and mid-sized law firms and government agencies, at corporations where their legal skills may be viewed as a plus, and with judges.

It is also important to note two facts:

(1) Since 2000, the percentage of KU Law grads who attribute their full-time job to a fall on-campus interview has averaged just under 20 percent.

(2) Law firms in the 2-25 attorney range have accounted for over 50 percent of law firm hiring of KU Law grads in six of the last nine years.

Fall on-campus interviewing is not the only way to find a legal job after graduation. It represents a piece of the overall puzzle. And large law firms, even in a robust economy, do not represent the entirety of a student’s employment options.

Todd Rogers

Assistant Dean for Career Services

F-bomb-dropping attorney gets worldwide notoriety

Most of this article and the buzz surrounding this incident (see below) is about lawyer civility and its supposed decline since the "good old days". It also serves as a reminder that many voicemail systems make messages very portable. Some systems send messages as e-mails with a .wav attachment. A breeze to forward far and wide. Not only should you be careful about what you leave on someone's message machine (see the Federal Privacy Commissioner's finding against a bank on this subject: PIPED Act Case Summary #270: Bank agrees to modify automated message), but you should remember that they can be easily saved and fowarded to goodness only knows where.

F-bomb-dropping attorney gets worldwide notoriety
August 25, 2004

BY ERIC HERMAN - Business Reporter

So much for professional courtesy.
A Chicago lawyer's expletive-filled phone message circulating on the Internet is providing fresh evidence to those who say lawyers' standards of behavior are eroding. ..."

The voice mail message (along with some commentary) is posted on on KinsellaLaw, for the curious.

Thanks to Bag and Baggage for leading me to this...

Article: Credit-card processors gear up for new privacy law

I find it amazing that when I closely examine the detritus of daily life (by emptying my pockets at the end of the day), I discover that so many merchants still print all the digits of the card number on credit and debit card receipts. Why? Why? Why? There is simply no need to have that info there and by it threatens the privacy of the cardholders.

The problem is usually compounded by a pretty cavalier attitude toward these flimsy pieces of paper. How many times have I picked up someone's reciept from the check-out at the grocery store, only to find a full credit card number, complete with expiry date? Or a full debit card number? When I mention it to the clerk, they just chuck it in the garbage. If you want to commit fraud, I can tell you the dumpsters to dive in.

PIPEDA, thanks to its broad statement that you must secure personal information against accidental disclosure, etc., probably requires obscuring at least part of the number. But not enough retailers have read it. At least the US is taking this seriously. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act requires card "truncation" by January 1 and some state laws have mandated it for some time:

Credit-card processors gear up for new privacy law:

"By Marion Davis, Staff Writer

A federal law requires merchants to truncate personal information on credit card receipts by Jan. 1. Does your business take credit cards? If so, when the slip prints out, how much of the customer's card number is included? If it's more than the last five digits, and/or if the expiration date shows, you need to upgrade your terminal by Jan. 1.

A federal law passed last December, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, requires credit-card "truncation" by that date, and a new state law makes merchants liable, starting in 2007, for any resulting fraud, plus legal fees, if they don't comply.

Some states, starting with California, have been gradually implementing truncation mandates for new terminals since 2001, but it was only last January that the first laws affecting existing machines kicked in. Some are tougher than Rhode Islandos: In Maine, anyone who didn't switch by last Jan. 1 is already subject to a $1,000 penalty; in Arizona, as of June 1, merchants who don't truncate can be fined $10,000. "

I gather that Visa/Mastercard have made this mandatory for their Canadian retailers by 2005.

3d DCA Watch -- When Granny Gets Mad, Run for the Hills!

Hi folks, it's that time of the week, so let's dive right in and see what our merry band of appellate judges to the south are up to in this week's edition of 3d DCA Watch:

Weiss v. Courshon

Hooray! Judge Salter is back, he's sick of crappy pro se pleadings, and he's not afraid to say so in the utmost polite, classy and professional manner that stands in stark contrast to certain cranky more senior judges that shall remain nameless but which have last names that rhyme with "warts."

Specifically, in a longstanding estate battle that SSD's Alvin Davis has been handling since he put on his first bow tie several decades ago, Judge Salter removed the pro se appellant's case from the oral calendar, found her arguments to be frivolous, and affirmed the lower court's dismissal for lack of prosecution with this lovely send off:

Weiss’s intemperate briefs in this case, as in prior cases, urge us to believe her and not the record. She expects this Court to believe, for example, that the circuit court clerk’s office docketed a non-existent notice to show cause why the case should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute; that only the on-line docket, and not the notice itself, alerted her to correspond with the court (over a week before the hearing) and send a local attorney to review the court file for a docketed notice that was not in the file; that opposing counsel somehow tricked the trial judge’s judicial assistant and a court reporter on the morning of the scheduled hearing; that a highly-respected trial judge made an incorrect notation on the order of dismissal regarding a telephone call to a number that Weiss supplied; and that, given another decade or so, Weiss might ultimately come to Florida to prosecute her inflammatory complaint launched so many years ago. Suffice it to say that none of these suggestions is grounded in the record.

As Judge Winifred Sharp noted several years ago in another case involving a “frequent applicant” to her court: “This case reminds me of my grandmother’s final warning and admonition to me and my siblings as children, when we had exhausted her patience with our doings. ‘Enough is enough,’ she would say. And that was the end of it.”

I guess it was better to end that tender and heartwarming anecdote right there, because if I recall that opinion correctly here's what happened next:

"Then Granny would take out her jug of triple-x moonshine, make us get some switches from the cellar, and chase us around the cee-ment pond swigging her white lightning and smacking our behinds until she done nearly whacked our entire backsides back to Tennessee! Sooeee Granny, you're one ornery son of a gun!"

Congratulations Laurie!!

Uber-appellate lawyer Laurie Waldman Ross has been appointed to the 3d DCA Judicial Nominating Commission.

Hey, whaddaya know, sometimes they do get things right!

Article: Blawgs may be worth a try

I just discovered an article about Canadian lawyers' blogs from Canada Law Book. It mentions this blog, but I didn't know about it when it came out in June. And I'm not too offended that the author didn't get my name right.

Blawgs may be worth a try
...

"The marketing advantage of blawgs are that they put your name out there," says Girard. "If a blawg is reasonably well read, it will move up pretty quickly in the Google rankings."

Aficionados estimate that there are currently about 500 law-related blogs online in the United States, which indicates the trend is still in its infancy. Interested readers can search them out by going to www.blawg.org

In Canada, an initial Law Times search turned up only Girard's site (www.e-Lawg.com). Later searches found a few more: one for a lawyer in Nova Scotia on elder law (www.nselderlaw.ca), one on privacy law from David T.S. ~~Cooper~~ FRASER at McInnes Cooper in Atlantic Canada (pipeda.blogspot.com), Martin G. Ertl in B.C. has two, www.opinionated.ca and another called Boiler-plate (contract.matinertl.ca), which is "dedicated to elegant drafting in contracts."

Michael Crawford, a marketing and communications consultant with marketingdept.biz in Toronto, thinks he knows why there are so few in Canada.

Read the full article here.

Article: Watch those attachments!

Another helpful reminder from a (hopefully remorseful and sheepish) organizer of the Rupublican convention that you need to double-check your attachments before clicking send.

E-mail to volunteers gets a bit personal
BY DEBORAH S. MORRIS

STAFF WRITER

August 26, 2004

Oops! A welcome e-mail that was sent to hundreds of volunteers for the Republican National Convention inadvertently included the name, address, Social Security number, race and other personal information of those volunteers.

The e-mail, with a subject header of "Transportation Volunteer Information - Final Email Before Your Arrival to NYC," was sent out yesterday across the country and apparently was to serve as a checklist for transportation volunteers' arrival on Saturday.

At the end of the e-mail, two attachments, which when opened, display private information such as volunteers' home, work and mobile phone numbers as well as their birthdates, rooming information and other personal information. The information, if it landed in the wrong hands, would be a security concern.

"The attachment was inadvertent," Leonardo Alcivar, spokesman for the Republican National Convention, said yesterday. "As a precaution, security [personnel] has been alerted and will take any additional steps necessary to protect the integrity of anyone listed."

...

Thanks to PrivacySpot for the pointer.

Vote, You Plebs!

Being high-information consumers, and given that there are judges up for election today, I hope you all don't need to be reminded to vote.

But remember to let your employees out early so they can get to the polling precinct, and maybe all you smart lawyers can even become part of the polling process for November to help make sure the election runs as smoothly as possible -- given the reality that the election is ultimately in the hands of Miami-Dade County officials.

On the various judicial candidates, I take the long view. There are always qualified and less-qualified candidates, and as a practitioner it seems change comes in increments, and even then only in spurts, and that all assumes the change is positive. Can you turn a cruise ship on a dime?

To paraphrase my pal Rummy, you go to the polls with the candidates you have, not necessarily the candidate you want. Either way, go to the polls.

Looking back: A 1L perspective on career planning

The newest batch of KU Law Student Ambassadors will be in place by mid-September and will begin contributing to the blog each Wednesday. Until then, we're dipping into the archives of blog entries from Ambassadors in past years. These have never been published because we didn't get our blog off the ground until July. This first installment comes from Chris Kaufman, who begins his third year of law school this fall. He composed the post on Jan. 31, 2008.

After completing the first two weeks of the second semester, I think I have finally readjusted to the demanding 1L schedule. I welcomed the month long break between semesters, using my time to relax, spend time with family and travel to watch the Jayhawks win the Orange Bowl.

Lost in those weeks away from KU Law, however, were the focus, discipline and endurance that I have recently become reacquainted with. But with the start of a new semester also comes additional responsibility -- because following the spring semester come summer employment opportunities. Therefore, the KU Law Office of Career Services kicks its program into high gear this time of year.

The first week back from break consisted of the usual reading assignments and class sessions, but also included mock interviews. Recent KU Law alums return to campus to walk through a simulated interview process to help students become familiar with the legal interview process. I came prepared, wearing my black suit, carrying resumes and transcripts, and reciting facts in my head about the firm that I was “applying” to work for over the summer.

I found the experience to be worthwhile. While the typical nervous stress that will likely accompany me to the real interviews was absent, the program provided me an opportunity to polish my answers and critique my body language, posture and other needless mannerisms.

With my first set of on-campus interviews with Kansas City-area law firms approaching, I have spent recent nights combing their Web sites, researching their specialties, and predicting the questions they will pose. While the experience is full of uncertainty and a little bit of stress, it will undoubtedly provide the valuable opportunity to practice my communication, research and persuasion skills in an un-simulated environment. I just hope I don’t get too much interview practice.

Chris Kaufman, 3L

First-day jitters and first-year myths

Green Hall was abuzz last Thursday morning with the excited chatter of first-year law students. KU Law faculty and staff welcomed another class of bright and motivated students with continental breakfast, several orientation programs and the first of many Lawyering class sessions.

After a few more days of Lawyering and orientation sessions, they begin their core courses today.

It hardly seems possible that it’s been 15 years since I anxiously began my law school experience in Austin. I remember making small talk with a KU graduate, Blaine Kimrey, as we waited to be welcomed to UT Law by the dean. My head was swirling as I looked around and sized up my classmates. I had graduated from college only a few months before and wasn’t sure that I was ready for the rigors of professional school.

As KU Law welcomes the Class of 2013, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on five bits of advice I received as a curious prospective law student and a nervous 1L. I’m afraid I was pretty impressionable and absorbed most of these statements as gospel.

Did they prove to be true?

You’ll only get a job if you’re in the top 10 percent of the class.

And it’s corollary ...

Law school is the most intense experience you’ll ever have. You must dedicate every waking minute to reading cases, studying and outlining in order to make good grades.

I’m not very good at math, but even I can figure out that the first statement is baloney. At KU Law, we admit about 160 students per year. After their first year, most students gain practical legal experience in the summer months or subsequent school years through paid or for-credit positions. And while our employment numbers dropped this year due to the recession, it’s typical that two-thirds of each KU Law class is employed at graduation and over 90 percent are employed nine months after graduation.

Of course grades matter. And of course some employers are more selective with respect to grades than others. But to state that only 10 percent (or 15 percent or 20 percent) of law students will be competitive in the job market is flat wrong.

Some of the most successful, grounded and happy law students I’ve known made time as 1Ls for hobbies, exercise and other activities that helped clear their minds and brought them back in touch with family and friends.

Law school is serious business, but if you treat it like a professional job — rather than just like undergrad — you’ll be surprised by how much you can accomplish while still reserving time for some fun. If you work steadily throughout the semester, you won’t feel overwhelmed when finals roll around in December.

While acquiring legal knowledge, don’t lose yourself. Take care of your body by getting plenty of sleep and exercise. Commit to investing time and energy in family and friends. Develop sound strategies for dealing with the stressful times head on. And be nice to one another! Law school is challenging, but it doesn’t have to be cutthroat or ugly.

Don’t bother with Career Services; they only care about the top 10 percent of the class.

Our marching orders are to care about the employment prospects and well being of the top 100 percent of the class. That may be hokey, but it’s true. Our doors are open to everyone, and typically students with lower grades seek our assistance more regularly.

Don’t bother looking for a job in a state other than where you go to law school.

About one-fourth of each KU Law class secures permanent employment outside of Kansas and western Missouri. If you want to wind up in Chicago or Denver or Houston, you should start your search early and consult with our office often. KU Law alums are spread across the country, and many will be amenable to assisting law students in establishing a foothold in a particular city or state.

If you wait until you’re a 3L to decide that you want to move to another state, especially a state with which you have no previous connection, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

You’ve got to figure out what area of law you want to practice as soon as possible.

During your first year, you’re learning how to read cases, spot issues, and analyze and apply statutes. In the process, you’ll gain some inkling of what you want to practice, but don’t buy into the hype that you must plot out your career path in its entirety by the end of your first year.

Want some help with making sense of your options? Read “The Official Guide to Legal Specialties: An Insiders’s Guide to Every Major Practice Area,” by Lisa Abrams. Also, make an appointment with our office to discuss your options.

Potential employers expect that 2Ls will be able to articulate an interest in an area or two. It won’t help your cause to say you’re interested in “all areas” or that you “just want a job.” You will need to answer practice area-related questions more thoughtfully by that point.

Todd Rogers, Assistant Dean for Career Services

Costly Arbitration Is Cheap and Efficient

That seems to be the message from the continuing money pit that is the Americatel arbitration debacle:

Americatel El Salvador won an arbitration against Compañía de Telecommunicaciones de El Salvador -- or CTE -- to allow greater access to the Salvadoran market. It also got the green light from a federal judge in Miami to collect some $12 million in compensation.
But CTE didn't stop fighting. The company has appealed the arbitration decision all the way to the Supreme Court in El Salvador and is taking the U.S. bout to the federal appeals court in Atlanta.
Riding on the outcome is more than just prying open lucrative Central American telecommunications markets.
The CTE-Americatel matchup is a test of the growing practice of binding arbitration, the very purpose of which is avoiding lengthy and costly litigation. Contracts increasingly contain clauses pledging parties to submit to binding arbitration. Americatel versus CTE is not the first arbitration case to drag on in regular courts, but it has gained widespread attention and could set a precedent for many more pending cases.

But don't worry, says former Greenberger Pedro Martinez-Fraga, now toiling for some out-of-staters at SSD:

''The Americatel case is an aberration in its complexity and not the rule,'' said Pedro Martinez-Fraga, coordinator of the international dispute resolution practice in Florida and Latin America at Squires Sanders & Dempsey.
''There's an effort by courts universally to insure that appellate recourse is minimized,'' said Martinez-Fraga, who is not involved in the case. ``That's just the way the world is heading.''

Nice try, Pedro, but the trends say otherwise. Business-to-business arbitration is increasingly as costly, in some cases more so, than an efficiently managed federal suit.

In Americatel it appears we have the worst of both worlds.

READ THIS! Privacy chief to e-commerce firms: Don't blame PIPEDA

I highly recommend reading this article from ITBusiness.ca. It quotes from both Jennifer Stoddart (Federal Privacy Commissioner) and Anne Cavoukian (Ontario Commissioner) emphasising how important it is to gain and maintain customer trust. So, get your privacy act together.

Privacy chief to e-commerce firms: Don't blame PIPEDA

8/25/2004 5:00:00 PM - Jennifer Stoddart defends the federal legislation and warns software vendors about potential damage to their corporate reputations. Plus: Why can't security and privacy assessors get along?

...

Stoddart made an aggressive pitch, referring to a 2002 Leger Marketing survey that found issues with security and privacy continue to be the biggest barrier to Canadians making online purchases.

"These fears are fuelled by an identity theft problem galloping out of control, which is estimated to result in losses of $2 trillion worldwide by the end of 2005," she said.

Stoddart cautioned that while a company may see a business opportunity in data mining, "their next door neighbour might see it as an unacceptable invasion of privacy".

Yet, if a business conforms with PIPEDA’s "informed consent" and "document storage" provisions on the treatment of personal electronic information, that business stands to recoup the loyalty of would-be customers, she said.

"This will help you grow your business by improving trust."

Ann Cavoukian, information and privacy commissioner of Ontario and one of Stoddart’s co-presenters, pointed to a Harris/Westin poll conducted in 2001 and 2002 which supported her federal counterpart’s argument.

Over 90 per cent of the poll’s respondents said the volume and frequency of business they conduct with a company is directly related to the level of confidence they have in that company’s privacy practices. The same poll found that 83 per cent of respondents would stop doing business with a company if they felt that their personal information was misused. ...

Article: California Legislature OKs offshore privacy bill

California's legislature has passed a bill regulating privacy aspects of the offshoring of personal information processing. It has landed on the Governator's desk for signature or veto. We'll keep you posted ...

Legislature OKs offshore privacy bill

MEASURE PROTECTS CONFIDENTIAL CONSUMER DATA SENT OVERSEAS

By Karl Schoenberger

Mercury News

A bill that would protect the privacy of personal medical and financial information when it is processed overseas in an offshoring contract was approved by the Legislature and has been sent to the governor's desk, the author of the legislation announced Tuesday.

State Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, said her bill -- SB 1451 -- provides that a stringent existing California law protecting consumer privacy in the state would apply to anyone who has access to such confidential information no matter where they are located. ...