Posts by expatbrit

The act is targeted at "commercial activities". Curiously, I could find no specific statement that exempted religious or non-profit orgs. from the act. So this raises the question: is the WT included under the provisions of this act? More searching required.

Expatbrit

Department of Justice
Privacy provisions highlights
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Purpose
The purpose of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is to provide Canadians with a right of privacy with respect to their personal information that is collected, used or disclosed by an organization in the private sector in an era in which technology increasingly facilitates the collection and free flow of information.
Application
Legislation will initially apply to the federally-regulated private sector, including telecommunications; broadcasting; banking and interprovincial transportation. It will also apply to federal Crown corporations operating in these areas: Atomic Energy of Canada Limited; the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; the various Ports Corporations; Marine Atlantique and Via Rail.
The legislation will cover federal entities which are not covered under the existing federal Privacy Act, such as Canada Lands Co., some subsidiaries of Canada Post, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO) and Enterprise Cape Breton.
The provisions will also apply to trade in personal information that occurs inter-provincially or internationally.
Three years after coming into effect, the provisions will apply more broadly to all personal information collected, used, or disclosed in the course of commercial activities, so that all Canadians, no matter where they live, will be assured of privacy protection. Where and whenever a province adopts legislation that is substantially similar, the organizations, classes of organizations or activities, covered will be exempted from the application of federal law.
Privacy Principles
The privacy provisions are based on the Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, recognized as a national standard in 1996. The Standard addresses the ways in which organizations collect, use and disclose personal information. It also addresses the rights of individuals to have access to their personal information and to have it corrected if necessary.
The code’s 10 principles are:
1. Accountability: An organization is responsible for personal information under its control and shall designate an individual or individuals who are accountable for the organization's compliance with the following principles.
2. Identifying Purposes: The purposes for which personal information is collected shall be identified by the organization at or before the time the information is collected.
3. Consent: The knowledge and consent of the individual are required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, except when inappropriate.
4. Limiting Collection: The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the organization. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention: Personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by the law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for fulfilment of those purposes.
6. Accuracy: Personal information shall be as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.
7. Safeguards: Personal information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
8. Openness: An organization shall make readily available to individuals specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.
9. Individual Access: Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall be given access to that information. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
10. Challenging Compliance: An individual shall be able to address a challenge concerning compliance with the above principles to the designated individual or individuals for the organization's compliance.
Exceptions
Some groups, such as law enforcement agencies and journalists, have a lawful or investigative need to collect, use and disclose personal information without having to obtain the consent of the concerned individuals. For these reasons, certain exemptions are included:
Personal information collected, used or disclosed solely for journalistic, artistic or literary purposes;
if the action clearly benefits the individual or if obtaining permission could infringe on the information’s accuracy;
where such data can contribute to a legal investigation or aid in an emergency where people’s lives and safety could be at stake; and
if disclosure aids, in times of emergency, matters of legal investigation, or facilitates the conservation of historically important records.
PRIVACY COMMISSIONER'S ROLE
Complaints
Individuals will have the right to complain about any aspect of an organization’s compliance with the provisions relating to the protection of personal information to the federal Privacy Commissioner. The Commissioner will have general powers to receive and investigate complaints, and to attempt dispute resolution.
Remedies
Unresolved disputes relating to certain matters can be taken before the Federal Court. In addition to its normal powers, the Court may order an organization to correct its practices and award damages to the complainant. Punitive damages may not exceed an amount of $20,000.
Public Information
The Privacy Commissioner will have a mandate to develop and conduct information programs to foster public understanding of the privacy provisions of the Act.
Annual Report
The Privacy Commissioner will report annually on the application of the provisions on personal information and the extent to which the provinces have enacted legislation.
ONE-TIME REVIEW
The privacy provisions of the Act will be reviewed five years after the coming into force of the legislation by a Committee of the House of Commons, or of both Houses of Parliament.

19

Privacy legislation - let's make some trouble

by RunningMan in

jw
friends

as of january 1, 2001, canada has new privacy legislation (bill c-6).. similar legislation has been adopted in the u.s., although i am not.

familiar with it.

some highlights that could pose problems for the society.

expatbrit

Sorry to rain on the parade here, but I believe that there are specific provisions in the new privacy legislation exempting religious and/or non-profit orgs.

I'm at work now, so don't have time to look it up, but will later.

Expatbrit, who would loveto see the WT running scared from lawsuits

52

prayer in school

by stephenw20 in

in cain's heart.

nra.

my daughter's death will not be in vain!

expatbrit

StephenW:

Thanks for the reference to an interesting story.

However, I don't see anything there to indicate miraculous circumstances.

The victim feels the presence of angels and her father. Irrational thoughts and feelings are to be expected from someone suffering from shock and blood loss after several hours of high altitude exercise.

The rescuer "feels" like biking on unusual trails. Maybe it took him a while to decide before he left? Now he decides there was something supernatural about his decision simply because he happened to find an injured person. Where's the evidence? Dozens of people die in the woods every year. Why aren't there angelically directed bikers finding them all? Why are these "miracles" such a rare occurence? Could it simply be random factors interacting to result in a serendipitous event?

Medical science has also formulated very plausible and non-supernatural explanations for so-called "out of body experiences". Oxygen starvation to the brain etc...

All the above questions should probably be viewed as rhetorical, since we wont agree on this subject. I do not deride or belittle your viewpoint, it simply doesn't work for me.

God may or may not exist. He may or may not take an interest in this tiny planet and it's inhabitants. Given the spiritual charlatanry I've experienced over the last three decades, I require more conclusive, objective and measurable evidence of his footprints in our sand.

Expatbrit

106

new, nowhere to turn, ashamed & afraid

by azzazel in

jw
friends

hullo everybody i'm new here, even though i've been lurking now for several months.. i have to say how afraid i am to post, afraid and ashamed but i feel if i dont tell my story, i honestly dont know what may happen to me or my children if they lose me, right now i feel like i've got nowhere left to turn and have my doubts about this place as well.. i know my story will shock you but i cant keep it in any longer.

i am recently disfellowshipped for immorality, the subject of a kingdom hall witch -hunt and subsequent congregational humiliation, .

during the process of the judicial committee meetings and proceedings no consideration was given to my real human circumstances nor to the spirit of survival nor human nature nor that of a mother seeking to protect her children from lack of basic fundamentals such as food, shelter and clothing.

expatbrit

Nogs:

This isn't to do with the thread topic, but having just read your pocket-bio above, I had to say:

BLOODY WELL DONE!!!!

Expatbrit

17

Circle of friends

by mommy in

i have a circle of friends.

the kind of friends you can pop in whenever you are in the area, without a phone call first.

the kind of friends i would allow to enter my house if i wasnt home, to borrow sugar, flour, toilet paper, etc, if they needed it.. we are a close knit group and watch out for each other.

expatbrit

Wendy:

I'm really sorry to read what you're going through. I'm SURE that everything will come to the right conclusion.

Be yourself and no-one will doubt your care and love for your children.

Thinking of you, and sending many best wishes.

Expatbrit

67

Are JW women repressed in the org?

by Tina in

jw
friends

in another thread titled why?

in the beliefs and practices forum,.

i have an exchange going on with another woman.

expatbrit

Yup.

Any organisation where women are not allowed to do everything that men are, is suppressing women.

End of story, as far as I'm concerned.

Expatbrit

26

Thirty Years a Watch Tower Slave

by JAVA in

jw
friends

perhaps the first widely distributed book written by a former witness about the watchtower society is, thirty years a watch tower slave by william j. schnell, baker book house, grand rapids, mi, 1956. its been out of print for several years, and very few libraries still have the book.

schnell was born in 1905, and was part of the watchtower movement from 1921 to 1954. .

in part, the foreword reads: by the lords grace i am a christian.

expatbrit

wined up in a nut house.

Suppressed memories of the glorious years at Bethel with Rutherford, Fred?

Expatbrit

52

prayer in school

by stephenw20 in

in cain's heart.

nra.

my daughter's death will not be in vain!

expatbrit

StephenW:

what would you be doing.?

I would be frantically looking for a way out.

choice is wonderful

It is indeed. This should include the choice not to pray, or the choice to pray to a non-Christian god, without pressure or coercion. Why should students be forced to worship someone else's idea of a higher power?

explain the miracles that happen...

I am aware of no genuine or proven miracles to explain.

Crossroads:

Stephen's prayers did him little good. He still died. No doubt you consider that he achieved salvation through his Christian faith and prayers. You are perfectly free to do so. Others are perfectly free not to. This is how it should be. Other than that, I'm not sure what your position is on mandatory prayer in schools. (Er, thanks for calling me cute.)

And now, a question for modern day miracle believers:

Does not believing in miracles e.g. that the survival of the American plane in the recent China incident was godly intervention, actually place blame on God for evil occurences?

If God intervened and produced a miracle to save this particular plane, then it shows that he can and will act to prevent disaster on occasions he sees fit. But now consider the vast number of aircraft disasters that have no survivors. God could have saved them with a miracle, but he chose not to. Were those who prayed and died over Lockerbie less worthy, or their prayers less valuable to God?

If God could prevent these disasters using a miracle, but does not do so, does he not share responsibility for them happening? If I saw someone drowning and had the power to save them, but did nothing, would I not bear responsibility for their death?

Believing in miracles seems to open up a whole barrel of spiritual worms to deal with, and cast aspersions upon the very God that miracle-believers profess belief in. Maybe that's why they're not so quick to mention God when the plane doesn't make a safe landing.

Expatbrit.