Research and retrieval of news articles by:
Bennett Gold LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants

SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL VISITORS:
Effective December 31 2012, articles are no longer being updated on this web site.
The site is now maintained as an historical archive, covering notable e-commerce news articles from the period 1999 to 2012.

CANADA PLEDGES TO DELETE "BIG BROTHER" FILES

Posted on May 30, 2000

      The Canadian government, responding to a public outcry that it was acting like Big Brother, said Monday it was dismantling a vast database containing up to 2,000 pieces of information on each citizen. Human Resources Minister Jane Stewart announced the about-face after being hammered by members of Parliament, Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips, private citizens and the media.

      "Given public concerns about privacy issues in this era of advanced and constantly changing technology, I have chosen an approach that addresses future threats to privacy," Stewart said in a statement.

      Phillips raised his concerns two weeks ago in an annual report that said Stewart's department had quietly received from other departments existing files detailing Canadians' tax, health and other records and combined them with its own jobs and welfare data.

      Stewart said her staff had now returned information to the federal tax authorities, had eliminated the computer program that linked the various databases and would ensure that all databases remain separate files.

E-Commerce Alerts are issued by Bennett Gold LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants as situations develop. Bookmark this site and check back often. Our e-mail address is: info@BennettGold.ca

In accordance with United States Code, Title 17, Section 107 and Article 10 of The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, the news clippings on this web site are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.

ALERT
ARCHIVES
Final Entries
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999