Book Review: Class Actions in Privacy Law
| Author | Michael A. Crystal and Sabrina Chang |
| Pages | 5-10 |
5
BOOK REVIEW:
CLASS ACTIONS IN
PRIVACY LAW
Michael A. Crystal and Sabrina Chang*
A recent edition of essays, Class Actions in Privacy Law,1 is a useful addition
to the academic writing in this area. One need only reference recent head-
lines regarding the Canada Post data breach, which impacted 950,000
clients, to realize that data breaches are now a ubiquitous feature of the
litigation landscape. Moreover, the recent case of Stewart v Demme2 high-
lights the fact that actionable breaches do not necessarily occur over a
substantial period of time, but can be momentary. In the Demme case, a
nurse employed by William Osler Health System accessed patient health
records for a matter of seconds in order to alter prescriptions. The Canada
Post data breach and the Demme case reinforce the need for the avail-
ability of reliable resources for practitioners attempting to navigate the
treacherous shoals of privacy class actions.
A. ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The editor and composer of this book is Ignacio N Cofone,3 a professor at
McGill University’s Faculty of Law. While litigating class actions may not
be in Cofone’s wheelhouse, his primary research centers around how
law should adapt to technological and social changes. Cofone’s interest
* Michael A Crystal is a trial and appellate litigation lawyer in Ottawa, ON, a certified
criminal law specialist by the Law Society of Ontario, an adjunct professor at the
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, and LL.M. candidate at Osgoode Hall Law
School. Sabrina Chang is a graduate from the English Common Law Program at the
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law and will be completing her articles at Fasken in
Vancouver, BC.
1 Ignacio N Cofone, ed, Class Actions in Privacy Law (Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2021).
for intrusion upon seclusion on 6 January 2020.
3 Biography can be found at the McGill University website, online: www.mcgill.ca/law/
about/profs/cofone-ignacio.
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