[OPIRG-EVENTS] Forum: Welcoming Big Brother

[Michael Richardson <mcr@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>]

{This may be a repost. The archive broke on Jan. 5th, and is now fixed again.
FYI, opirg-events had 697 messages. That is nearly two messages a day.}
The archive, btw, is at: 
    http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/lists/html/opirg-events/
which also should be mentioned at the foot of very message.}

WHAT:  "Welcoming Big Brother"
WHERE: Ottawa Public Library Auditorium
WHEN:  Wednesday, January 30, 2002 @ 7:30 
WHO:   Valerie Steeves, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa
       Ken Anderson, Office of the Ontario Privacy Commissioner
       Bill Blaikie, NDP MP and Justice Critic

From: Katherine Gunn <klgunn@magma.ca>
To: (Recipient list suppressed)

        "Welcoming Big Brother"

Ottawa Public Library Auditorium
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 @ 7:30 
        Free of Charge/ Donations Welcome

 
Is privacy an outdated concept?

Will trading our rights to privacy really buy us prosperity, 
security and peace of mind?

An open discussion of privacy and public policy, with:
Valerie Steeves, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa
Ken Anderson, Office of the Ontario Privacy Commissioner
Bill Blaikie, NDP MP and Justice Critic

 
Everyone wants to know as much about us as possible. The corporation is
interested in our profiles as consumers. Our employers want the right to
know what we did last night and whom we are e-mailing this morning.
Governments claim the right to know with whom we associate and for what purpose.
 
But we participate in this erosion of privacy, too. Some of us want to know,
thanks to a nanny-cam, exactly what's going on at the daycare. Perhaps we
stop at the grocery store and cheerfully hand over a "loyalty" card on our
way to a meeting to protest the passage of anti-terrorist legislation. And
if this meeting is at City Hall, a video camera will keep track of our
arrival. Our images can be matched to an electronic file of "known threats"
to the state.
 
We are surrounded by human and technological invasions of our privacy, some
of which we condemn, and some of which we see as benign. Where do we draw
the line as individuals? What is the appropriate role of the state in
protecting our privacy?

What are the consequences of new legislation that will further restrict our
civil liberties, including privacy, in the name of security?


Sponsored by Ottawa Centre New Democrats and the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives

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