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Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?. Frédéric Pelletier Legal Counsel, LexUM Policy Advisor, CanLII 46 th CALL Annual Conference May 26, 2008. canlii.org. Mandate: Make Canadian primary legal materials available online for free Flow of decisions: up to 3,000 weekly

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Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

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  1. Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy? Frédéric Pelletier Legal Counsel, LexUM Policy Advisor, CanLII 46th CALL Annual Conference May 26, 2008

  2. canlii.org • Mandate: Make Canadian primary legal materials available online for free • Flow of decisions: up to 3,000 weekly • Total volume: more than 500,000 • Visits per day: 20,000 Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

  3. Editorial Policy • Each decision gets posted online as received from the court or tribunal • Unless a statutory or court-ordered publication restriction applies • For court-ordered publication bans that are routinely made, names are always replaced with initials (e.g. complainants in sexual crimes - s. 486.4 Cr.C.) • Unless otherwise advised by the court Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

  4. Privacy Concerns • Embarassment, humiliation • Parties to a divorce • Businesses losing a case • Discrimination • Bankrupts • Criminally accused, even if acquitted • Complainants in labor disputes • Identity theft and data mining • Personally identifiable data Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

  5. Possible Solutions • Drafting stage: minimization of personal data disclosure • Preventing the « googlelization » of online case law • Better communication re the rationale of the open court principle to the public • More complete court record information (not less) Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

  6. Conclusion • Open justice generally prevails over privacy concerns of individuals • Many threats to privacy and security can be minimized by sound policy and technology • Some outstanding issues for legislators • Names of persons who received a pardon • Names of children in family disputes • Confidential data (health records, tax returns) Online Access to Decisions in CanLII – What About Privacy?

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