Digital Rights Management Technologies and Consumer Privacy: An Assessment of DRM Applications under Canadian Privacy Law

Author

David Fewer, Philippe Gauvin, Alex Cameron

Organization

Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC)

Published

2007

Summary

This report provides the results of our study of digital rights management (DRM) technologies in use in the Canadian marketplace and their implications for consumer privacy. We have defined “DRM” in this report to mean “a system, comprising technological tools and a usage policy that is designed to securely manage access to and use of digital information.” We investigated the DRM technologies used in connection with certain products and services in Canada. Using the data collected during our investigations, we assessed whether each application in question complied with the Personal Information Protection and
Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). This report confirms that DRM is currently being used in the Canadian marketplace in ways that violate Canadian privacy laws. DRM is being used to collect, use and disclose consumers’ personal information, often for secondary purposes, without adequate notice to the consumer, and without giving the consumer an opportunity to opt-out of unnecessary collection, use or disclosure of their personal information, as required under Canadian privacy law.

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Source: Consumer Policy Research Database