Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Privacy Laws and Business International Report

Book reviews [2000] PLBIRp 37; (2000) 55 Privacy Laws and Business International Report 9

Book Reviews

German view of transborder data flows

This recently published book analyses the procedures involved in establishing adequacy, and the requirements under which transfers may be permitted despite the lack of adequate protection. The author, Dr Ulrich Wuermeling, also discusses the transfer rules in EU countries' national data protection legislation. The book is, therefore, a useful guide to organisations transferring personal data outside the EEA, or to anyone who needs to understand the challenges of transborder data flows.

"Handelheimnis Datenschutz" (data protection - trade barrier) is available in German, and may be ordered from Carl Heymanns Verlag KG, Luxemburgerstrasse 449, 50939 Cologne, Germany. E-mail: service@heymanns.com. ISBN 3-452- 24687-6, price: DM 128, EUR 65.45.

The Canadian Privacy Law Handbook

Published immediately after Canada's private sector privacy law was adopted (April 2000), this handbook provides a thorough overview of the new law. The handbook is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the background and reasons for legislating. Chapter 2 provides a detailed interpretation of the text of the law and the CSA Code, and Chapter 3 is a practical guide to applying the law.

The handbook includes several examples and this practical approach makes it an invaluable resource for anyone who needs to understand the provisions of the new law, be they lawyers, data protection managers or academics.

The authors, Murray Long, a privacy consultant, and Suzanne Morin, Senior Counsel, Regulatory Law, at Bell Canada, must be congratulated for making it considerably easier to understand the law. Ringbinder-format and future amendments, available twice a year to annual subscribers, mean that the handbook can be kept up-to-date.

The handbook is published by Centrum Information, 2 Carlton Street, Suite 1508, Toronto ON M5B 1J3, Tel: +1 416 977 8526, Fax: +1 416 977 5622. ISBN 0-968697-0-8, 2000. Price: Canadian $299.

North American privacy laws

Privacy Journal has released an updated version of its Compilation of State and Federal Privacy Laws. This edition has one-paragraph descriptions of more than 600 laws. There are also full texts of the important federal laws, and descriptions of the federal and provincial laws in Canada.

Privacy Journal has also updated its Directory of Privacy Professionals, which has details of more than 400 individuals and organisations active in this field.

The book (ISBN 0-930072-11-1) costs $31 plus $4 postage and the directory $12.50 plus $4 postage. They can be ordered from Privacy Journal, PO Box 28577, Providence RI 02908, Tel: +1 401 274 7861 Fax: +1 401 274 4747, e-mail: privacyjournal@prodigy.net.

Ben Franklin's Website: Privacy and Curiosity from Plymouth Rock to the Internet

In this book, written for the general reader, Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of US-based Privacy Journal newsletter, discusses the history of privacy in the United States by describing the meaning of privacy from New England's Puritan church to today's target marketing and online monitoring. Along the way, he discusses the histories of wiretapping, credit reporting, sexual practices, social security numbers etc. His conclusion is that "Americans' intense curiosity overwhelms their interest in privacy."

Price: US$24.50, address as above.