News and Research articles on Canada

Going global: Comparing Chinese mobile applications’ data and user privacy governance at home and abroad

Lianrui Jia, University of Toronto
Lotus Ruan, University of Toronto
PUBLISHED ON: 16 Sep 2020 DOI: 10.14763/2020.3.1502

This paper examines data and privacy governance by four China-based mobile applications and their international versions - including the role of the state. It also highlights the role of platforms in gatekeeping mobile app privacy standards.

Regulatory arbitrage and transnational surveillance: Australia’s extraterritorial assistance to access encrypted communications

Monique Mann, Deakin University
Angela Daly, University of Strathclyde
Adam Molnar, University of Waterloo
PUBLISHED ON: 16 Sep 2020 DOI: 10.14763/2020.3.1499

This paper is part of Geopolitics, jurisdiction and surveillance, a special issue of Internet Policy Review guest-edited by Monique Mann and Angela Daly. Introduction Since the Snowden revelations in 2013 (see e.g., Lyon, 2014; Lyon, 2015) an ongoing policy issue has been the legitimate scope of surveillance, and the extent to which individuals and groups can assert their fundamental rights, including privacy. There has been a renewed focus on policies regarding access to encrypted communications, which are part of a longer history of the ‘cryptowars’ of the 1990s (see e.g., Koops, 1999). We examine these provisions in the Anglophone ‘Five Eyes’ (FVEY) The FVEY partnership is a comprehensive …

Focusing on whether data-intensive technologies used in political campaigning are accurate and effective misses the point about their larger role in politics. This piece briefly addresses the popular question of “Does it work?” and suggests a series of questions and provocations that aim to more holistically capture the extent of tech-led disruption in a time of creeping voter surveillance.   

Platform ad archives: promises and pitfalls

Paddy Leerssen, University of Amsterdam
Jef Ausloos, University of Amsterdam
Brahim Zarouali, University of Amsterdam
Natali Helberger, University of Amsterdam
Claes de Vreese, University of Amsterdam
PUBLISHED ON: 9 Oct 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.4.1421

Ad archives are a novel tool in online advertising governance. They promise significant benefits, but only if their operators address key criticisms.

Bitcoin: a regulatory nightmare to a libertarian dream

Primavera De Filippi, Research and Studies Center of Administrative Science (CERSA/CNRS), Université Paris II (Panthéon-Assas)
PUBLISHED ON: 23 May 2014 DOI: 10.14763/2014.2.286

Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are often seen as a threat by governmental and financial institutions worldwide. Regulation could help minimise the risks involved. The author explores some legal and self-regulatory precedents from which we can learn.

Open government data emerging, trust in government declining

Monika Ermert, Heise, Intellectual Property Watch, VDI-Nachrichten

PUBLISHED ON: 28 Nov 2013

According to the fourth edition of the eGovernment Monitor, released on November 28, the number of users of eGovernment services in Sweden in 2013 was 53 percent, compared to 70 percent in 2012. On average, the decline in all monitored countries was as high as 8 percent.

Enforcement vs. access: wrestling with intellectual property on the internet

Sebastian Haunss, University of Bremen
PUBLISHED ON: 3 Jun 2013 DOI: 10.14763/2013.2.132

The last years have seen a growing politicisation of intellectual property issues, especially those relative to the internet. Sebastian Haunss assesses the current state of the policy field and draws attention to three parallel processes, which structure the future development of intellectual property policies related to the internet: the growing focus on enforcement, the plurilateralisation of international IP policies, and the trend to open access.