Under Ontario law, only employers physically established in the province are required to give advanced notice of mass lay-offs, so it’s good to see these rights getting extended to worker’s with remote home offices in the province as well.

https://betakit.com/ontario-proposes-new-regulations-to-tighten-rules-around-mass-layoffs/

#Layoffs #Canada #Ontario #CdnTech #ONPoli

OSFI takes control of Silicon Valley Bank’s Canadian unit | The Globe and Mail

In Canada, SVB plays a different role [than in the US], as it does not have a banking license and only provides venture debt locally | BetaKit

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-osfi-takes-control-of-silicon-valley-banks-canadian-unit/

https://betakit.com/how-silicon-valley-bank-shutdown-might-impact-canadian-tech/

#SVB #CdnTech

Um.. someone in Vancouver, BC unlocked and drove a Tesla that did not belong to them - it just happened to be parked beside his and looked exactly the same, but the Tesla app allowed him to unlock and run the vehicle

He was able to drive the vehicle for an hour & a half before meeting up with actual owner to return the car

https://globalnews.ca/news/9541040/bc-tesla-driving-wrong-car-app/

#Tesla #Vancouver #Canada #CdnTech

The #CRTC will re-examine the wholesale rates that small telecoms (like TekSavvy) pay large telecoms (Rogers, Bell, Telus) for access to their networks.

In the meantime, the CRTC is cutting the wholesale rates by 10%

The review will also consider making it mandatory that independent telecoms get access to fibre networks

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-crtc-launches-review-of-wholesale-network-rates-reduces-some-by-10-per/

#Canada #Telecom #CdnTech

So, Bell (with Telus & SaskTel) gets to operate, and charge its competitors for access to Canada’s old and new 911 infrastructure, which its competitors are mandated to pay for

The CRTC approved the price for the old system, as well as double billing for the new system while it is built

Videotron says Bell pockets tens of millions of dollars a year while costs are passed to consumers and the new 911 is still in development

https://www.thestar.com/business/2023/03/02/telecom-battle-goes-public-with-bell-accused-of-abusive-behaviour-for-double-billing-911-services.html

#CdnTech #CdnPoli #CRTC

https://www.thestar.com/business/2023/03/02/telecom-battle-goes-public-with-bell-accused-of-abusive-behaviour-for-double-billing-911-services.html

Canada’s Heritage Commitee has not only summoned 4 Google executives over their #BillC18 protests (experimenting with blocking news for Canadians), but has also ordered “Google and its parent company Alphabet to give the committee copies of all documents and messages related to its decision to retaliate over C-18 by Thursday March, 2.”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/alphabet-google-committee-block-summon-1.6762908

#CdnTech #CdnPoli

The Canadian government is suddenly in a rush to ban a single foreign social media app for public servants, but stronger privacy laws for all Canadians remains a low priority #BillC27

From @mgeist

https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2023/02/the-tiktok-block-why-does-the-canadian-government-seem-to-embrace-weak-privacy-rules/

#CdnTech #CdnPoli #TikTok #Privacy

Vancouver-based, Dapper Labs (known for popularizing NFTs with the release of CryptoKitties in 2017), is facing a class action lawsuit from users of its NBA Top Shot NFT platform alleging the company violated US securities law by selling NBA Top Shot Moments without registering them with regulators.

Dapper Labs argues they do not sell securities, “Moments are simply modernized trading cards, not financial instruments.”

https://betakit.com/dapper-labs-faces-lawsuit-claiming-nba-top-shot-nfts-are-securities/

#CdnTech #Vancouver @web3isgreat

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, along with commissioners of BC, Alberta, & Quebec are launching a joint investigation into TikTok to examine compliance with Canadian privacy legislation and in particular, whether valid and meaningful consent is being obtained for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tiktok-canada-privacy-regulators-1.6758136

https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2023/an_230223/

#Canada #CdnTech #CdnPoli #Privacy #OPCC #BillC27 #TikTok

I’ll admit I was worried by the title of BetaKit’s (@betakit@twitter.com) latest episode, “The Indigo hack is bad. Will AI make cyber threats worse?”

But, Plurilock CEO Ian Paterson (@ianlpaterson@twitter.com) had refreshing takes on how generative AI and cybersecurity will actually intersect.

“Social engineering attacks are getting cheaper, […] they are continuing to get cheaper, […] but I don’t think [ChatGPT is] game changing, in the sense there have always been financial incentives for bad guys to do bad things.” (32m20s)

https://betakit.com/the-indigo-hack-is-bad-will-ai-make-cyber-threats-worse/

#Canada #CdnTech #AIDA #AI #ChatGPT #BetaKit

Journalists at the CBC download their Facebook data to see what other companies might be sending “off-Facebook data” without meaningful consent. They found data from Anthropologie; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Best Buy; Gap; Hudson's Bay; Lululemon; PetSmart; and Sephora.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/retailers-sharing-data-meta-1.6737484

#Canada #CdnTech #Privacy #BillC27

If you aren’t listening to the BetaKit’s(@betakit@twitter.com) podcast, you are missing out on great takes in #CdnTech

Last week, Rob Kenedi (@rkenedi@twitter.com) compared AI right now to psychology 100 years ago, “ring a bell, the dog would salivate, and they are like; we don’t know what’s happening inside there, but it’s a black box, we’ll never what’s inside! And then in the 70s they’re like; you know what maybe we should pay attention to what’s inside the thing.”

Now we see with AI, “it’s some sort of reinforcement learning but it doesn’t matter because good things come out the other end. So, what we do know is bias in bias out, so we can think about how those models are built and we should probably understand what’s going on inside these things.”

~37 min: https://betakit.com/can-amber-mac-explain-wtf-is-happening-in-tech-right-now/

Tim Hortons' app users will get one free beverage and one baked good after a Quebec court approves the class action settlement

@jamespmcleod “found the app had been tracking his movements so closely that it knew where he lived, worked and vacationed, as well as when he walked into certain competing fast-food restaurants. An analysis of months’ worth of data obtained through federal privacy law suggested the app was tracking him even when it was closed.”

https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/tim-hortons-app-privacy-quebec-settlement

#Canada #TimHortons #Privacy #CdnTech #CdnPoli

Canada’s House of Commons is back in session, here on some bills/hashtags I will be following re: #CdnTech & #CdnPoli

- Online Streaming Act #BillC11
- Online News Act #BillC18
- Amendments to the Telecommunications Act #BillC26
- Digital Charter Implementation Act #BillC27
- Artificial Intelligence and Data Act #AIDA
- Consumer Privacy Protection Act (#CPPA is same acronym as California’s…)
- Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act (I don’t think #PIDPTA is a thing)

Anything I missed?

CBC: “Canada's Federal Court of Appeal has rejected the Competition Bureau's request to block the takeover of Shaw by Rogers, a decision that removes one of the final hurdles standing in the way of the $20-billion merger from going ahead.”

“Now that the Competition Bureau has been unsuccessful, the final hurdle standing in the way of the deal being consummated is the approval of federal Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne.”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/rogers-shaw-appeal-court-1.6724045

#Canada #CdnPoli #CdnTech #AntiTrust

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has found that Home Depot Canada has been sharing email addresses and purchase information with Meta (formerly Facebook) since 2018, without meaningful consent.

Customers that provided their email to receive an e-receipt had their email & purchase info shared with Meta to compare purchases to any Home Depot ads they were shown. Meta also used the data for their own business practices.

Home Depot Canada says they have stopped sharing data with Meta as of Oct 2022 and will take the OPC’s recommendations

https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/news-and-announcements/2023/nr-c_230126/

#CdnTech #Canada #Privacy #Meta

The structure of the contracts for the development of the ArriveCan app is under review by the Clerk of the Privy Council after comments from PM Trudeau

You may recall the out-cry and many questions that came a few months ago when Canadians learned the total cost of the app had reached $54M

https://globalnews.ca/news/9429380/arrivecan-contract-illogical-inefficient-trudeau/

#Canada #CdnPoli #CdnTech #ArriveCan

AI regulation is coming. What’s Canada’s approach? | BetaKit Podcast

Canada’s Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act is currently in second reading

> “Bill C-27 is a three part bill that includes major reform to Canada’s federal private sector privacy law. So, It will repeal and replace the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act [PIPEDA]. The second part of the bill would establish a new tribunal associated with part 1 which is the reform to private sector privacy law. And then, The third part of the bill introduces new regulation specific to artificial intelligence [the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA)].” - Carole Piovesan, co-founder and managing partner at INQ Law

https://betakit.com/ai-regulation-is-coming-whats-canadas-approach/

#CdnTech #CdnPoli #Canada #Privacy #PIPEDA #BillC27 #CPPA #AI #AIDA #DigitalCharter #BetaKit #TechPolicy

The cybercriminal organization, Lockbit, responsible for the ransomware hack on Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children has issued a public apology and has given the hospital decryptor keys for the data that was encrypted.

The apology reads: “We formally apologize for the attack on sikkids.ca and give back the decryptor for free, the partner who attacked this hospital violated our rules, is blocked and is no longer in our affiliate program.”

Source: @vx-underground@twitter.com

#Canada #CdnTech #Ransomware #LockBit #Toronto

Canadian copper mine suffers ransomware attack, shuts down mills | The Record (Dec. 30)

> Copper Mountain Mining Corporation produces approximately 100 million pounds of copper equivalent on average per year from its Copper Mountain Mine in southern British Columbia. The company said in a press release on Thursday that it had implemented several protocols, including isolating operations, after discovering an attack on its IT systems at both its corporate office and the mine itself.

https://therecord.media/canadian-copper-mine-suffers-ransomware-attack-shuts-down-mills/

#Canada #CdnTech #Ransomware