Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Jason Fekete reports that the Harper Cons are taking the side of international tax evaders against other G8 leaders trying to implement an effective enforcement system. And CBC reports that the Canada Revenue Agency has repeatedly turned down the opportunity to access information
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Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Paul Krugman makes the case for significantly higher taxes on the rich: What would raising tax rates at the top accomplish? It would, to some extent, mitigate the rise in inequality, which some of us consider a good thing in itself: You
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On private policy
Last month, I wrote about the Sask Party’s choice to redefine “privacy” to apply to corporations under Saskatchewan’s securities legislation: Until now, privacy has been recognized under Canadian law as being an individual right. As Justice La Forest wrote, “An expression of an individual’s unique personality or personhood, privacy is
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Eric Schmidt’s privacy concerns about drones more than a little ironic
Executive chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, recently went public with his concerns about ‘everyman’ drones getting into the wrong hands. Thinks they should be banned… might be a privacy threat. Guess Schmidt should know being a top exec of a company that some regard as one of the biggest privacy
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the Wall government is extending purely individual rights such as the right to privacy to corporations – and how that could lead to yet more corporate abuse in the future. For further reading…– The Hansard record from March 18 featuring Gord Wyant’s approval of corporate secrecy in
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canada News Headlines: Stephen Harper – World’s Worst Talent Scout
Curated By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive | Feb. 27, 2013: Stephen Harper – world’s worst talent scout Sooner or later, the country is going to realize that there is something terribly wrong with Stephen Harper’s judgment. And sooner or later, the Conservative party is going to realize one-man bands are great until the tuba
Continue readingbastard.logic: The War Comes Home
900ftJesus has some important questions for the Privacy Commissioner re: the new Harpercon plan to randomly audit EI clients for *gasp* fraud, via taxpayer-subsidized bureaucratic fishing expeditions (House calls? REALLY?): What information are federal employees told to gather through house visits? How is this information gathered? (silent observation, questions, questioning and/or
Continue readingbastard.logic: The War Comes Home
900ftJesus has some important questions for the Privacy Commissioner re: the new Harpercon plan to randomly audit EI clients for *gasp* fraud, via taxpayer-subsidized bureaucratic fishing expeditions (House calls? REALLY?): What information are federal employees told to gather through house visits? How is this information gathered? (silent observation, questions, questioning and/or
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: You’re Toast. Raytheon’s RIOT Has Your Number
Leading U.S. defence contractor, Raytheon, has developed RIOT, the Rapid Overlay Information Technology software programme that can gather, sort, digest and analyze all your social media telltales. It can even predict where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing in the future. The Guardian recently got their hands on a
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: So how did you get them emails, Ms. Redford?
This week Education Minister Jeff Johnson sent an email to about 30,000 teachers. This is frightening for two reasons. (1) It is an abuse of private information of citizens. As Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman points out in a press release today it likely violates FOIP as Alberta’s teachers gave those emails solely
Continue readingArt Threat: Buying music online is a bad deal
In the United Kingdom, music retailer HMV is on life support. Although HMV Canada’s parent company is mounting a rescue attempt, the brand responsible for 35% of the CD market in Britain may soon collapse, in large part due to the shift towards purchasing music online. While many consumers would
Continue readingThings Are Good: Stealth Hoodie Protects Your Privacy
Around the world there is an increase in surveillance of individuals by private and public organizations. Artist Adam Harvey has devised a way to help people get some privacy back from electronic surveillance through his fashion line Stealth Wear. If you’re in London you can see the artwork at Primitive
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Murray Dobbin writes about the significance of Idle No More as a shift away from the presumption that First Nations’ interests are represented solely by elected officials: There are some fascinating similarities between the Idle No More phenomenon and the Occupy movement.
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Huffington Post: The fight for Canadians’ personal information heads to court
Independent ISP TekSavvy has been granted additional time to notify Canadians that they could soon be implicated as part of an ongoing copyright crackdown. Although TekSavvy is not a defendant in the ongoing court case, it’s re-assuring to see efforts made by a service provider to help Canadians understand and
Continue readingOpenMedia.ca: Huffington Post: TekSavvy warns Canadians it has received requests for personal info
Independent Internet Service Provider TekSavvy has announced that an American film studio is demanding personal information of its Canadian customers – a motion that follows recent changes to Canadian copyright law. In response, TekSavvy is taking a stance that aims to protect Canadian privacy – stating that it will not
Continue readingLeDaro: Verizon – When You Watch TV, TV Will Be Watching You
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This is Big Brother, your own TV spying on you to serve big corporations so they can hawk their wares in advertising. This is really scary, Big Brother is a reality. I’m sure people like Vic Toews will
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Maybe It’s Time to Get Out of Dodge
This was bound to happen. Inevitable. American cellular giant Verizon has filed a patent application for a device to watch you watching TV. Who is interested in watching you watch TV? Probably more people than you can imagine but TV advertisers would be near the top of the list. That’s
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: The Best Reporting on Facebook and Your Privacy
by Theodoric Meyer | ProPublica Facebook hit the one-billion user mark last week, a little more than two years after it reached 500 million users. To mark the occasion, we’ve rounded up some of the best reads on Facebook and privacy. Facebook Raises Fears With Ad Tracking, The Financial Times, September 2012 Facebook has
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is Your Cell Phone Giving Away All Your Secrets?
Privacy? That’s a thing of the past. The Surveillance State is the new reality and, barring massive government intervention, it’s here to stay. How are you liking that fancy Android cell phone? Don’t bother answering that, we already know. Taxpayer-funded programs have created malware for Android smartphones that can remotely
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – The Star recognizes the danger facing anybody who tries to convince a Con MP to listen to constituents’ concerns – as the Cons don’t care enough to respond to specific appeals, but will be happy to use whatever information they can gather
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