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Full-Text Articles in Computer Law

“I Bet You Don’T Get What We Get”: An Intersectional Analysis Of Technology-Facilitated Violence Experienced By Racialized Women Anti- Violence Online Activists In Canada, Nasreen Rajani Jan 2022

“I Bet You Don’T Get What We Get”: An Intersectional Analysis Of Technology-Facilitated Violence Experienced By Racialized Women Anti- Violence Online Activists In Canada, Nasreen Rajani

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Despite growing attention to violence that women face in online settings, a relatively small proportion of academic work centres on the experiences and perspectives of racialized women in Canada. Informed by an intersectional framework, I draw on semi-structured interviews with nine women across Canada, all of whom are involved in anti-violence online activism, about their experiences of technology-facilitated violence (TFV). Their experiences revealed less prominent narratives, including instances of TFV beyond instances of intimate partner violence (IPV) and beyond sources of anonymous trolling by supposed white men, such as violence perpetrated by peers, white women, and racialized men. In this …


‘‘Don’T Take On The Responsibilty Of Somebody Else’S Fu**Ed Up Behavior”: Responding To Online Abuse In The Context Of Barriers To Support, Chandell Gosse Jan 2022

‘‘Don’T Take On The Responsibilty Of Somebody Else’S Fu**Ed Up Behavior”: Responding To Online Abuse In The Context Of Barriers To Support, Chandell Gosse

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Responsibilization, in a true circular fashion, is not only born of but also benefits institutional (e.g., social media companies and law enforcement) and cultural power structures (e.g., misogyny and patriarchy). When targets of online abuse take responsibility for the abuse launched against them, that assumption of responsibility requires energy, and that energy is taken away from efforts to hold institutions and perpetrators accountable. Responsibilization tries to tranquilize change in the service of power. The tricky thing about interrupting this process is that it requires more than just offering better support. It also requires exposing, challenging, and dismantling harmful ideologies, belief …


Onlife Harms: Uber And Sexual Violence, Amanda Turnbull Jan 2022

Onlife Harms: Uber And Sexual Violence, Amanda Turnbull

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Uber markets itself as a technology company that is managed primarily by ML algorithms with the support of human engineers. Yet, in its 2019 Report, the role that its technology played in relation to sexual violence is, for all intents and purposes, absent. Likewise, solutions dealing specifically with the role of technology in facilitating gender-based violence are also missing from the series of initiatives in which Uber has invested that are aimed at preventing sexual violence. Uber was not sufficiently rigorous in defining the problem it was trying to solve. It was a missed opportunity that has resulted in continued …


On The Internet, Nobody Knows You Are A Dog: Contested Authorship Of Digital Evidence In Cases Of Gender-Based Violence, Suzie Dunn, Moira Aikenhead Jan 2022

On The Internet, Nobody Knows You Are A Dog: Contested Authorship Of Digital Evidence In Cases Of Gender-Based Violence, Suzie Dunn, Moira Aikenhead

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

We examine various aspects of digital evidence at GBV trials, drawing on relevant Canadian criminal case law. First, we describe some of the unique challenges related to electronic documents generally with respect to determining authorship. Second, we review some of the historical and ongoing practices within the criminal justice system that rely on harmful gendered myths about GBV and note the potential for these myths to emerge in relation to digital evidence. Third, we discuss the duty of investigating police officers to gather the necessary available digital evidence to demonstrate authorship and note potential gaps in current investigatory practices that …


Platforms, Encryption, And The Cfaa: The Case Of Whatsapp V Nso Group, Jonathon Penney, Bruce Schneier Jan 2022

Platforms, Encryption, And The Cfaa: The Case Of Whatsapp V Nso Group, Jonathon Penney, Bruce Schneier

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

End-to-end encryption technology has gone mainstream. But this wider use has led hackers, cybercriminals, foreign governments, and other threat actors to employ creative and novel attacks to compromise or workaround these protections, raising important questions as to how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the primary federal anti-hacking statute, is best applied to these new encryption implementations. Now, after the Supreme Court recently narrowed the CFAA’s scope in Van Buren and suggested it favors a code-based approach to liability under the statute, understanding how best to theorize sophisticated code-based access barriers like end-to-end encryption, and their circumvention, is now …


Technologies Of Servitude Understanding Firmware Tpms As Interests In Personal Property, Anthony D. Rosborough Jan 2022

Technologies Of Servitude Understanding Firmware Tpms As Interests In Personal Property, Anthony D. Rosborough

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Widespread computerization and embedded system design has facilitated the pervasive and latent implementation of technological protection measures (‘‘TPMs”) to restrict device firmware access. Often referred to as ‘‘digital locks,” these restrictions impose a whole host of limitations on how owners use and manage the increasing number of products and devices in which they are incorporated. In many cases, TPM restrictions can prevent activities with social, environmental, and economical benefits, including repair, repurposing, and interoperability. In response, governments around the world are now revisiting and scrutinizing their TPM anti-circumvention laws within copyright and competition policy. Beyond these perspectives, this article looks …


Richard Susskind, Online Courts And The Future Of Justice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), David Cowan Nov 2020

Richard Susskind, Online Courts And The Future Of Justice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), David Cowan

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

There are times when the essential nature of something is simply viewed as ‘nice to have’ until a paradigmatic shift turns the essential into a necessity, and necessity in technological change is not so much the mother of invention as the parent of behavioural change. This point is made clear by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced courts to put online and remote working at centre stage. There is a natural yearning to go back to ‘normal,’ but questions arise as to whether online courts are a good idea and whether attempts to work online and remotely will survive the …


Developing Privacy Best Practices For Direct-To-Public Legal Apps: Observations And Lessons Learned, Teresa Scassa, Amy Salyzyn, Jena Mcgill, Suzanne Bouclin Jun 2020

Developing Privacy Best Practices For Direct-To-Public Legal Apps: Observations And Lessons Learned, Teresa Scassa, Amy Salyzyn, Jena Mcgill, Suzanne Bouclin

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Canada’s access to justice problem is undeniable. Too many people are unable to get the help they need when they experience legal issues. The reasons underlying this problem are multi-faceted and complex. One major barrier to effectively accessing justice is the cost of legal services; the fees associated with hiring a lawyer are often prohibitive. Increasingly, technology is advanced as a potential solution to the unaffordability of conventional legal services. Courts have tried to create efficiencies by, for example, allowing for e-filing and video- conferenced testimony, where appropriate. For lawyers, new technology products emerge almost daily to help streamline tasks …


Can Pipeda ‘Face’ The Challenge? An Analysis Of The Adequacy Of Canada’S Private Sector Privacy Legislation Against Facial Recognition Technology, Tunca Bolca Jun 2020

Can Pipeda ‘Face’ The Challenge? An Analysis Of The Adequacy Of Canada’S Private Sector Privacy Legislation Against Facial Recognition Technology, Tunca Bolca

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Facial recognition technology is one of the most intrusive and privacy threatening technologies available today. The literature around this technology mainly focuses on its use by the public sector as a mass surveillance tool; however, the private sector uses of facial recognition technologies also raise significant privacy concerns. This paper aims to identify and examine the privacy implications of the private sector uses of facial recognition technologies and the adequacy of Canada’s federal private sector privacy legislation, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), in addressing these privacy concerns. Facial templates produced and recorded by these technologies are …


Searches Of The Person: A New Approach To Electronic Device Searches At Canadian Customs, Justin Doll Jun 2020

Searches Of The Person: A New Approach To Electronic Device Searches At Canadian Customs, Justin Doll

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

What goes through your mind at customs? As you wait in that folded line, edging closer to a row of enclosed booths manned by uniformed officers, surrounded by security cameras and warning signs? Perhaps you’re trying to act naturally, then wondering if it shows? Perhaps you’re mentally recalculating the amount you’ve scribbled onto your customs declaration? Or perhaps you’re exhausted from your flight, maybe nursing a bit of a hangover, not thinking about much at all? When you finally get to the front of the line, how do you expect your conversation with the customs officer to go?

According to …


A Better Act, More Bad Behaviour Online: Nova Scotia’S New Intimate Images And Cyber-Protection Act Goes To Court, Jennifer Taylor Jun 2020

A Better Act, More Bad Behaviour Online: Nova Scotia’S New Intimate Images And Cyber-Protection Act Goes To Court, Jennifer Taylor

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

There is now a reported decision under Nova Scotia’s new Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act,1 which came into force in July 2018 after the previous legislation, the Cyber-safety Act,2 was struck down as unconstitutional.3

The case, Candelora v. Feser,4 was set against the backdrop of a bitter family law dispute. Dawna Candelora (the Applicant), alleged that her former spouse Trevor Feser and his new partner Sonia Dadas (the Respondents) were cyber- bullying her through an unrelenting stream of negative Facebook posts.

Justice Joshua Arnold of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia found that the Respondents had engaged in cyber-bullying and …


Case Comment: British Columbia (Attorney General) V. Brecknell, David T. Fraser Jun 2020

Case Comment: British Columbia (Attorney General) V. Brecknell, David T. Fraser

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

In a day and age where a large portion of both innocent and criminal communications travel across the border and then reside on servers outside of the country, many Canadian police and prosecutors were understandably excited by the British Columbia Court of Appeal’s decision in Brecknell. This case concludes that a Canadian court can order an entity that is only ‘‘virtually present” to produce records pursuant to a Criminal Code production order.

While it is a case that deals with a compelling issue faced by Canadian law enforcement in an environment where hundreds of such orders are issued naming US …


Reflections On The Influence Of Social Media On Judging, Peter D. Lauwers Justice Jun 2020

Reflections On The Influence Of Social Media On Judging, Peter D. Lauwers Justice

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This essay examines the influence of social media on judging. While the ethical implications of judges’ engagement in social media have received some scholarly attention, the actual influence of social media on judging has not.1 But it is possible to make some useful observations that might at once seem obvious and disquieting.

This essay is divided into four parts. Part 1 describes the normative judicial disposition. Part 2 examines the psychology of judging. Part 3 asks what could go wrong with the judicial use of social media. Part 4 describes a stance judges might take towards social media.


Book Review: The Long Journey To Software Valuation: Risks And Rewards Ahead By Dwight Olson, Duncan C. Card Jun 2020

Book Review: The Long Journey To Software Valuation: Risks And Rewards Ahead By Dwight Olson, Duncan C. Card

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

One of the most difficult challenges for any technology start-up, and for its investors, is how to assess the commercial value of their innovative product or service solution. Much-needed guidance on that challenge has finally arrived. Dwight Olson’s The Long Journey To Software Valuation, released on March 1st of this year, provides tremendous assistance for both owners of those assets and all potential investors. In fact, the arrival of Mr. Olson’s book is a relief. As my law practice has been, and remains, devoted to aggressively commercializing technology (including software) for over 25 years, I personally know how welcome …


Politics Of Adversarial Machine Learning, Kendra Albert, Jonathon Penney, Bruce Schneier, Ram Shankar Siva Kumar Jan 2020

Politics Of Adversarial Machine Learning, Kendra Albert, Jonathon Penney, Bruce Schneier, Ram Shankar Siva Kumar

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In addition to their security properties, adversarial machine-learning attacks and defenses have political dimensions. They enable or foreclose certain options for both the subjects of the machine learning systems and for those who deploy them, creating risks for civil liberties and human rights. In this paper, we draw on insights from science and technology studies, anthropology, and human rights literature, to inform how defenses against adversarial attacks can be used to suppress dissent and limit attempts to investigate machine learning systems. To make this concrete, we use real-world examples of how attacks such as perturbation, model inversion, or membership inference …


Ethical Testing In The Real World: Evaluating Physical Testing Of Adversarial Machine Learning, Kendra Albert, Maggie Delano, Jonathon Penney, Afsaneh Ragot, Ram Shankar Siva Kumar Jan 2020

Ethical Testing In The Real World: Evaluating Physical Testing Of Adversarial Machine Learning, Kendra Albert, Maggie Delano, Jonathon Penney, Afsaneh Ragot, Ram Shankar Siva Kumar

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper critically assesses the adequacy and representativeness of physical domain testing for various adversarial machine learning (ML) attacks against computer vision systems involving human subjects. Many papers that deploy such attacks characterize themselves as “real world.” Despite this framing, however, we found the physical or real-world testing conducted was minimal, provided few details about testing subjects and was often conducted as an afterthought or demonstration. Adversarial ML research without representative trials or testing is an ethical, scientific, and health/safety issue that can cause real harms. We introduce the problem and our methodology, and then critique the physical domain testing …


Ethical Hacking By Alana Maurushat, Laura Ellyson Dec 2019

Ethical Hacking By Alana Maurushat, Laura Ellyson

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Book Review of Ethical Hacking by Alana Maurushat (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2019).


Law And The “Sharing Economy”: Regulating Online Market Platforms By Derek Mckee, Finn Makela & Teresa Scassa, John D. Gregory Jun 2019

Law And The “Sharing Economy”: Regulating Online Market Platforms By Derek Mckee, Finn Makela & Teresa Scassa, John D. Gregory

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.


Digital Evidence: A Practitioner’S Handbook By Gerald Chan & Susan Magotiaux, Robert J. Currie Jun 2019

Digital Evidence: A Practitioner’S Handbook By Gerald Chan & Susan Magotiaux, Robert J. Currie

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.


The Missing Hyperlink — An Empirical Study: Can Canadian Laws Effectively Protect Consumers Purchasing Online?, Mariella Montplaisir Jan 2018

The Missing Hyperlink — An Empirical Study: Can Canadian Laws Effectively Protect Consumers Purchasing Online?, Mariella Montplaisir

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Canadian consumer protection legislation applicable to online transactions generally works by a two-pronged method: first, private international law rules ensure that in most cases, consumers can sue in their home province under that province’s law; and, second, a wide range of substantive obligations are imposed on merchants, and failure to comply with these obligations provides consumers with a right of cancellation. This study considers the private international law rules applicable to online consumer contracts, and discusses the unique jurisdictional challenges presented by online transactions. This study also provides an overview of Canadian legislation applicable to online consumer transactions, and examines …


Social Media Threats: Examining The Canadian Criminal Law Response, Benjamin Perrin Jan 2018

Social Media Threats: Examining The Canadian Criminal Law Response, Benjamin Perrin

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article begins by discussing the legislative history, essential elements, and purpose of the threats offence in s. 264.1(1) of the Criminal Code. It then analyzes major reported Canadian judicial decisions dealing with social media threats, based on the five themes identified above. Finally, this article concludes by highlighting the implications and limitations of this study, as well as areas for future research.


Public Authority Liability And The Regulation Of Nanotechnology: A European Perspective, Nina Natalia Baranowska Jan 2018

Public Authority Liability And The Regulation Of Nanotechnology: A European Perspective, Nina Natalia Baranowska

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper argues that in certain circumstances public authorities should be liable for regulating nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is an emerging field of technology that enables to control shape and size of various structures, devices and systems at nanometer scale on which one nanometer is equal to one-billionth of a meter. In spite of being a nascent field of science and technology, its scope of application – in the food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, construction, textile, electronics, and agricultural industries – is expanding rapidly. The risks associated to nanotechnology, however, and its long-term consequences are still largely unknown, particularly in regards to its health …


Back To The Future: Reviving The Use Of Video Link Evidence In Canadian Criminal Courts, Helena Gluzman Jan 2018

Back To The Future: Reviving The Use Of Video Link Evidence In Canadian Criminal Courts, Helena Gluzman

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Section 714.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada allows for witnesses and victims to testify remotely via video link, within Canada. The legal test embedded within this provision — “appropriate in all the circumstances” — has led to inconsistent application across the country. Some jurists have embraced the flexibility provided by the video link process. Others have expressed reluctance, articulating the position that in-court testimony is to be preferred and permitting the use of video link evidence only in exceptional circumstances. R. v. S.D.L. is the first treatment of s. 714.1 by an appellate court. The Nova Scotia Court of …


Government Surveillance Accountability: The Failures Of Contemporary Canadian Interception Reports, Christopher Parsons, Adam Molnar Jan 2018

Government Surveillance Accountability: The Failures Of Contemporary Canadian Interception Reports, Christopher Parsons, Adam Molnar

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Real time electronic government surveillance is recognized as amongst the most intrusive types of government activity upon private citizens’ lives. There are usually stringent warranting practices that must be met prior to law enforcement or security agencies engaging in such domestic surveillance. In Canada, federal and provincial governments must report annually on these practices when they are conducted by law enforcement or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, disclosing how often such warrants are sought and granted, the types of crimes such surveillance is directed towards, and the efficacy of such surveillance in being used as evidence and securing convictions.

This …


The Aleph Bet: Debating Metaphors For Information, Data Handling And The Right To Be Forgotten, Chris Prince, Micheal Vonn, Lex Gill Jan 2018

The Aleph Bet: Debating Metaphors For Information, Data Handling And The Right To Be Forgotten, Chris Prince, Micheal Vonn, Lex Gill

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

Court rulings in the European Union (EU) have now established that individuals may seek erasure of personal information posted online. Typically, this involves de-indexing a website from search results, and in some instances the removal of content from primary sources sites. This has, in turn, led to debate around both the logistics and the unintended consequences of removing information online, and subsequent discussions have grappled with a range of images and metaphors to map that new legal reality. This essay surveys that debate, the imagery it employs, and the various logics associated with these metaphors.


Can Cyber Harassment Laws Encourage Online Speech?, Jonathon Penney Jan 2018

Can Cyber Harassment Laws Encourage Online Speech?, Jonathon Penney

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Do laws criminalizing online harassment and cyberbullying "chill" online speech? Critics often argue that they do. However, this article discusses findings from a new empirical legal study that suggests, counter-intuitively, that while such legal interventions likely have some dampening effect, they may also facilitate and encourage more speech, expression, and sharing by those who are most often the targets of online harassment: women. Relevant findings on this point from this first-of-its-kind study are set out and discussed along with their implications.


Towards An Effective Regime Against Online Copyright Infringement In India, Ashwin Ramakrishnan May 2017

Towards An Effective Regime Against Online Copyright Infringement In India, Ashwin Ramakrishnan

LLM Theses

With Internet usage on the rise, it is important for India to establish an effective regulatory regime to combat piracy and mass copyright infringement online. This thesis argues that, in the face of unique legal and cultural challenges specific to India, present laws in the country have failed to do so. Unless and until these challenges are met it will be difficult to have an effective mechanism that deals with online copyright infringement. Countries like the United States, Canada, Ireland, and France have all adopted different regulatory models. However, this thesis argues that each not only have significant limitations on …


War In The Expanse: The Metaphysics Of Cyberspace, Roy Balleste Jan 2017

War In The Expanse: The Metaphysics Of Cyberspace, Roy Balleste

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.


The Law Of Cyber Warfare: Restrictions, Opportunities And Loopholes, Nicholas Tsagourias Jan 2017

The Law Of Cyber Warfare: Restrictions, Opportunities And Loopholes, Nicholas Tsagourias

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The article considers the applicability of existing international rules on the use of force to cyber attacks and assesses their effectiveness. The author’s conclusion is that the current regime on the use of force fails to capture the particularities of cyber attacks and for this reason he makes some tentative proposals for enhancing security in this area.


Cyber Operations And The Humanization Of International Humanitarian Law: Problems And Prospects, Giacomo Biggio Jan 2017

Cyber Operations And The Humanization Of International Humanitarian Law: Problems And Prospects, Giacomo Biggio

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The aim of International Humanitarian Law (‘‘IHL”) is to regulate the conduct of hostilities while, at the same time, balancing the two overarching concepts of military necessity and humanity. While the principle of military necessity allows a party to a conflict to exercise any amount of armed violence which is necessary for the accomplishment of a military purpose, the principle of humanity aims at minimizing the amount of physical violence caused to combatants and the civilian population. From the late 19th century onwards the principle of humanity has progressively eroded the domain of military necessity, influencing the creation and interpretation …