GDPR: Meta Hit With Dissuasive Fine For Illegal Data Transfers From Europe To US Servers

This decision comes in the wake of Meta’s and 5000 other companies willful ignorance of EU data protection law and persistent illegal transfers of European users’ sensitive data, such as names, email and IP addresses, messages, viewing history, geolocation data and other information, to US servers. Meta will of course appeal the ruling, but if …

Andy Warhol Foundation For Visual Arts Loses Fair Use Case at SCOTUS

SCOTUS applied the fair use doctrine in a manner coherent with its previous rulings. The Orange Prince silkscreen licensed to Condé Nast constitutes copyright infringement, because a commercial license is not fair use. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-869_87ad.pdf To cite the court: the “purpose and character” of the Foundation’s use of Goldsmith’s photograph in commercially licensing Orange Prince to …

Desjardins Bank Data Leaks and Identity Theft Coverage

I know since yesterday that I am being impersonated by malicious actors who are currently using my ex email rossita@rossitadove.com. Yes, I\’ve been hit with identity theft. I am also a member of the Desjardins class action that recently settled. We are about to receive an initial payout for privacy breach, but members have until …

A TikTok Ban? How Dancing Became a Danger To National Security

DanceByte, the company that brought us TikTok is currently under fire for (1) hosting government officials and (2) being in China. Literally two things outside of DanceByte\’s control. This is what our dysfunctional world has come to. The completely unconstitutional ban that couldn\’t happen under Trump, seems to be gaining \”bipartisan\” traction in the US …

Joan Mitchel Foundation And Luis Vuitton, Potential Lawsuit

Unauthorised use of the American abstract painter’s work in a Louis Vuitton advertising campaign prompts legal action. According to the New York Times , the Joan Mitchel Foundation was approached twice by the fashion brand to use the paintings as a backdrop to sell a range of handbags. On the second occasion a representative for …

Jury Sides With Hermès in MetaBirkins NFT Lawsuit

One of the most heard of NFT-related trademark lawsuits in the US resulted in a triumph for luxury brand Hermès against artist Mason Rothschild, whose “MetaBirkins” NFT project sought to dilute the luxury brand’s trademark. In the Southern District Court of New York, a jury sided with Hermès and found that Rothschild’s NFTs failed a …

Miramax and Tarantino Lawsuit To Clarify NFT Rights

Since last year\’s NFT craze, it is customary to mint unique NFT\’s from original storylines and film characters as cross promotion of new and upcoming films. However, misconceptions around NFT rights (being seen as a new form of intellectual property which they aren\’t), has given some individuals impetus to mint pre-existing IP rights that don\’t …

Fair Use Doctrine: Pablo Picasso Copyright Case Reversed

In the latest high profile case involving alleged fair use of Pablo Picasso’s work in a book on the subject, The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a 2019 federal district court’s ruling deeming French court’s judgment in that matter was unenforceable under U.S. law. The case is notable for the …

Augmented Reality Art Exhibitions

Featured Image: Drawing Constellations by Will Pappenheimer, in collaboration with Zachary Brady. Drawing Constellations is an interactive drawing, installation, and app that uploads drawings to a constantly moving and evolving 3-dimensional “constellation” situated within and outside of the gallery. Upon creating a drawing on a tablet, the user’s drawing is then transferred into 3D augmented …

Spyware Tracks Journalists And Activists Via Microsoft

This just in. At least 100 activists, journalists and government dissidents across 10 countries were targeted with spyware produced by Candiru, according to cybersecurity researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which tracks illegal hacking and surveillance. https://montrealgazette.com/news/world/activists-journalists-targeted-by-israeli-firms-spyware-researchers-say Using a pair of vulnerabilities in Microsoft Corp.’s Windows, cyber operatives operating in Saudi Arabia, Israel, …

Google Indexing Of Personal Information Is Subject to PIPEDA (2021 FC 723)

Ever since Equustek, Google fails to convince Canadian courts of its \”non-commercial\” business model and its \”freedom of expression\” rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unlike the USA where Google always wins (remember Oracle and fair use not so long ago), Canada maintains a tough stance on the search engine giant. Just …

EU: Prohibited Artificial Intelligence Practices

As per Article 5 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act are prohibited the following practices consisting of placing on the market, putting into service or use of AI systems that consist of : 1.a) Subliminal techniques beyond a person\’s consciousness designed to materially distort a person\’s behaviour in a manner that causes or is likely …

Sherman Estate and Donovan 2021 SCC 25 – Breakdown

The facts of this case revolve around the unexplained double homicide of a billionaire couple in Toronto. The estate trustees felt uncomfortable to administrate the Sherman estate under intense public scrutiny and incidentally feared for their life due to the perpetrator being unknown and still at large. The application judge sealed the probate files to …

La protection des données au Québec en danger

La présidente de la Commission de l’accès à l’information, Diane Poitras, vient de déclarer en commission parlementaire qu’elle n’a pas les ressources nécessaires pour répondre aux menaces liées aux nouvelles technologies qui utilisent les données des Québécois. Cet article fait le point sur cette nouvelle alarmante: https://www.journaldequebec.com/2021/04/29/commission-de-lacces-a-linformation–le-pauvre-chien-de-garde-de-nos-donnees Les lois sur l\’accès à l\’information et la protection …

Télétravail et géolocalisation des employés

Ce trio d\’articles pointe vers un besoin pressant de réformer les lois sur le droit du travail tant provinciales que fédérales afin d\’assurer une meilleure sécurité des données personnelles des travailleurs en contexte de télétravail. Une employée de l\’Alberta a été congédiée après avoir refusé d\’installer une application de géolocalisation sur son téléphone: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1784312/geolocalistion-telephone-mobile-productivite-employes Les …

Déverrouillage d\’appareils électroniques par les forces de l\’ordre; Données conservées chez des tiers états-uniens

De plus en plus de services policiers au Canada, à l\’instar de l\’Agence des services frontaliers, font l’acquisition de technologies permettant de déverrouiller un téléphone cellulaire ou une tablette protégés par un mot de passe. Pour effectuer ce type de déverrouillage, les agents doivent obtenir une autorisation judiciaire (mandat).

Or, ce n\’est pas l\’autorisation judiciaire qui pose problème en l\’espèce, mais un détail beaucoup plus insidieux. Ainsi, on apprend que pour épargner de l\’argent sur les licences des logiciels de déverouillage, certaines services policiers ont décidé de stocker les données ainsi obtenues sur des plateformes info-nuagiques (cloud) appartenant à des tiers du secteur privé, situés aux États-Unis.

Ce constat oblige les bureaux les commissaires à la protection de la vie privée d\’intervenir.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1763519/telephone-tablette-ordinateur-gray-key-cellebrite-police

\”Dans le cas du logiciel Gray Key par exemple, il est possible de détenir une licence permettant l’analyse locale des données, c\’est-à-dire de les conserver à l’interne. Celle-ci se vend approximativement 40 000 $ américains. Par contre, le service de police de Guelph n’a dépensé que 18 000 $ pour son service. Cela signifie que les données sont stockées sur un serveur de l’entreprise aux États-Unis.\”

Why would hackers block email reception to a compromised account? Isn’t that counter-productive?

Today I found out that my oldest email address rossita@rossitadove.com (an account I barely use since 2016) has been taken over by malicious actors. After several tests this morning, I can now confirm that the email address is currently impersonated and controlled by someone at Dreamhost, or a third party at the knowledge of employees …

Web 3.0: Decentralized Social Media Is The Next Big Trend

As social media fatigue is setting on, we can note major layoffs in centralized platforms. Indeed, centralized platforms are riddled with privacy issues, predatory marketing, and algorithmic discrimination, such as unfair shadow-banning, that deprive users of a meaningful experience and defeat the point of being on social media. In that respect, the former Twitter administration …

The new IP landscape in Russia

Among the devastating and far-reaching consequences of Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February last year, IP in the region has been affected. In particular, the sanctions imposed on Russia and the counteractions of Russia against “unfriendly” countries have raised uncertainty and concern among IP rights holders. The protection of intellectual property rights has not been …