Privacy in the Era of Social Networking: Legal Obligations of Social Media Sites
![handle is hein.journals/sasklr74 and id is 263 raw text is: SASKATCHEWAN
LAW REVIEW
Privacy in the Era of Social
Networking: Legal Obligations of
Social Media Sites
Jennifer Stoddart*
I. INTRODUCTION
I welcome the opportunity to be here and to discuss with you the very
important and timely topic of privacy in the era of social networking.
I intend to speak in particular about the legal obligations of social
networking sites with respect to privacy. We will examine this issue
through the lens of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of
Canada's work with two giants of the online world: Facebook and
Google. Social networking sites and other online services are at the
front lines in the privacy protection battles for my office and for our
counterparts around the world. Enforcing privacy law in this realm is
raising complex new challenges for all of us. We will also take a brief
look at some of the recent case law on privacy issues related to social
networking.
In the narrow sense, the legal obligations of social networking
sites with respect to privacy is a straightforward matter-they have
the same legal obligations under the Personal Information Protection
and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)1 as traditional bricks-and-
mortar organizations in the private sector. The purpose of PIPEDA is
to balance the individual's right to privacy with an organization's
need to collect, use or disclose personal information for purposes that
a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.2
Fortunately, the architects of PIPEDA had the foresight to create a law
that is technology neutral.3 So far, the law has done a reasonably
Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Remarks made to the University of
Saskatchewan, College of Law, November 22, 2010, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
1 S.C. 2000, c. 5.
2 See ibid., s. 3.
3 See ss. II.IV and 111. in Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Draft Report on
the 2010 Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's Consultations on Online
Tracking, Profiling and Targeting and Cloud Computing (For Comment) (Ottawa: 25 October
2010), online: <http://www.priv.gc.ca/resource/consultations/report_2010_e.cfm>
[Privacy Commissioner, Draft Report].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sasklr74&div=20&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Privacy in the Era of Social Networking: Legal Obligations of Social Media Sites
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