Project Achievements

• Pursuant to our research aim, four research papers were produced documenting our investigation of the implementation of the PIPED Act in the telecommunications, airlines, banking and retail sectors. These papers have been made available for comment and review on our project website and will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals in due course. The OPC will receive acknowledgment of support in all publicly disseminated materials.
  
  
• We were invited to participate in a forum titled: "Anonymity, Identity and the Prospect of Privacy" at the University of Ottawa on March 3, 2005. The event was organized by the Information Technology Law Association at the Faculty of Law. (See Appendix 2) Students participating in the discussions remained in Ottawa to attend a conference sponsored by the University. The lead researcher was invited to contribute a web log sponsored by the University of Ottawa to describe the project and its aims.
  
  
• The highlights of the project was a full day conference held at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law on March 18, 2005. The conference featured Daniel Solove, an Associate Professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and an authority in the areas of information privacy law and cyberspace law. The conference also included a panel discussion on the impact of the recent FCA ruling in the Englander v. Telus case. A spirited discussion was staged between Mathew Englander and Drew McArthur, Chief Privacy Officer at Telus. A presentation by Stephanie Perrin President of Digital Discretion, and Research Coordinator, Anonymity Project (www.anonequity.org) was also made on the subject of assessing the effectiveness of the PIPED Act. Complete details of this event are available online and in the CD that accompanies this document. (See Appendix 1)
  
  
• A 26-point research instrument was devised as part of our research. Unfortunately, due to onerous requirements of the University's Research Ethics Board approval, which was not anticipated, the letter that was required to accompany our initial contact with external participants resulted in reluctance on the part of privacy officers to participate. The research instrument was however useful in identifying consumer concerns. (See Appendix 3)
  
  
• A website / was designed to advertise our conference and disseminate information about our research. A live web cast link was established to allow remote participants to engage in our discussions.
  
  
• The research group was also selected to participate in the Faculty of Information Studies Research Day on April 1, 2005 (seehttp://www.fis.utoronto.ca/activities/researchday.htm) This was a day-long event celebrating the research of Faculty of Information Studies faculty, students and staff.