New provisions part of Canada’s anti-spam law come into effect Jan. 15th 2015

From the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/software-updates-installations-now-require-consent-1.2901868

“Starting today, it’s illegal in Canada for a website to automatically install software on your computer.

Your consent is now also required for updates to apps on your smartphone or tablet.

The latest provision of Canada’s anti-spam law to come into effect specifies that businesses installing software or computer programs on another person’s computer over the internet must have their explicit consent — “implied” consent is not enough. There are some exemptions to the requirement, including bug fixes, operating systems cookies, HTML and Javascript.

Companies must also:

Clearly disclose to users if its software could collect personal information, interfere with the normal operation of a computer, alter settings or preferences or data on a computer or allow a third party to access a computer. Those who fail to comply may be fined up to $10 million.”

Of course, FOPL is ahead of the curve and the CASL legal opinion for public libraries also covered this issue. To find the opinion use this link: https://fopl.ca/?p=2976