Human Resources 101

Private medical records found in an alley.

Shoppers Drug Mart says a man’s discovery of hundreds of its prescription information documents strewn across a Winnipeg back alley was an isolated incident.

It may be an isolated incident, but people are very sensitive about their medical data.

A man discovered the documents, which include names, addresses, prescription information [...]

The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Ethics, and Privacy has launched a review of Canada’s privacy act -PIPEDA. Michael Geist has tapped some research students to attend the hearings and take notes.
You can read the notes from Day 01 (Industry Canada) here.

The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) normally requires organizations to obtain an individual’s consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information about that individual. However, there are exceptions to this rule, including the exception for “publicly available” information.
Some personal information is made public for a legitimate primary purpose. For example, individuals allow their name, address [...]

Wired Magazine has put together a list of what it considers to be the ten privacy snafus that made the world an unsafer place.
10. ChoicePoint data spill9. VA laptop theft8. CardSystems hacked7. Discovery of data on used hard drives for sale6. Philip Agee’s revenge5. Amy Boyer’s murder4. Testing CAPPS II3. COINTELPRO2. AT&T lets the [...]