by Sara Shayan In 2017, Equifax suffered one of the largest data breaches in history. Attackers accessed Social Security Numbers, addresses, birthdates, credit card numbers, and other sensitive personal information relating to 143 million Americans and roughly 19,000 Canadians. Shortly after the massive breach, former Equifax CEO Richard F. SmithRead More →
by Sara Shayan Equifax, one of only two credit bureaus operating in Canada (and one of three in the United States), has been in the business of collecting, analysing, and selling consumer information for nearly 120 years. In its infancy, the Atlanta-based company helped lenders gauge the trustworthiness of borrowersRead More →
by Dustin Moores As mentioned in our two previous posts, PIPEDA, Canada’s private sector privacy law, is sorely out of date. Despite being subject to mandatory review every five years, the law has not seen a substantial revision in its near-twenty year existence. Thankfully, it now seems that real changeRead More →
by Dustin Moores In May 2017, hackers breached Equifax’s servers. Equifax, as you may recall from our podcast on the subject, is one of the world’s largest credit bureaus, and one of only two operating in Canada. Have you ever rented an apartment before? Applied for a mortgage or loan?Read More →
CIPPIC Director David Fewer interviews intern Sara Shayan on her research into the Equifax security breach. Sara describes Equifax’s role as a credit bureau in Canada and explores the implications of the breach for ordinary Canadians. Theme music: “Cool It” by Nctrnm, licensed under CC BY 2.0.Read More →
by Dustin Moores It is often said that the law lags technology. When it comes to the laws that govern data brokers in Canada, this statement could not be more true. Canada’s federal private sector privacy law has not seen a substantial revision since coming into force in 2001, withRead More →
By Dustin Moores “We are experiencing a higher than normal volume of calls at this time. Please stay on the line to maintain your priority. We value your call. Your current wait time is approximately….” For many of us, messages like these are all too familiar. In my case, itRead More →
By Dustin Moores Our third podcast explores some of the ways data brokers can impact democracy. As of early 2018, important details are emerging about how certain organizations used data gathered from data brokers combined with illegally obtained Facebook data to micro-target Americans with various messages during the 2016 U.S.Read More →
CIPPIC intern Dustin Mores explores the role data companies play in elections around the world through an interview with CIPPIC Director David Fewer. The conversation considers the revelations around Cambridge Analytic’s exploitation of Facebook’s platform, but also discusses more broadly political use of data broker services. Theme music: “Cool It”Read More →
by Dustin Moores “I don’t get it,” my wife said over the phone one blustery November afternoon, “why am I seeing ads for your boots on my work computer?” It was a great question, and the aspiring cyber-sleuth in me wanted nothing more than to find the answer. “Did youRead More →
