Privacy Class Actions Are Here, But Do We Need Them?
Mondaq Business Briefing › Canada Law Articles in English (2011)
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Privacy Class Actions Are Here, But Do We Need Them?
Previously published in Canadian Privacy Law Review
While some people advocate for the infamous position taken by Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy 11 years ago — You have zero privacy anyway; get over it1 — the recent proliferation of privacy class actions suggests that reports of the "death of privacy" may be greatly exaggerated. The amount of personal information2 available to and used by businesses is increasing exponentially, as is the seeming inclination of many people to air their private lives online. At the same time, just as many people seem to be increasingly concerned with protecting their privacy, and media attention has focused on the ways in which personal information may be misused. It is not surprising that the debate about the importance of protecting personal information rages on. These conflicting views have not stopped the inevitable trend toward bringing privacy class actions. And as we have come to expect, this trend first appeared in the United States, and has now taken hold in Canada. However, the conflicting attitudes toward privacy are evident when it comes to the question of damages. What if there are none? Why should the court system be engaged at all? These issues are coming to the forefront of a landscape that accommodates two quite different kinds of privacy claims: claims arising fro...See the full content of this document
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