Monday, November 07, 2011

ISP's terms of use allow disclosure of customer information to police

Once again, a Canadian trial court has determined that an internet service provider's "terms of use" mean that a customer does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their identity information when the police come knocking. R. v. Lo, 2011 ONSC 6527.

I can't help but wonder how many people have ever read the terms of use for the internet service provider and how you can really conclude that an expectation of privacy can be vitiated by something that the vast majority of people have never read.

I also note that the police had more than enough information to get a warrant or a production order, but didn't.

2 comments:

Sharon Polsky said...

...which begs the question, if ISPs' ToS permit the release of personal information, where's the validity in the claim that (l)awful access is necessary?

Philippe Bastien said...

It's not like the consumer has a choice! When was the last time that you negotiated the TOS of an ISP or any provider of service such as wireless, banks, cable, etc.?