In the law class that I teach at Ottawa U, we often end up discussing how to properly compensate those whose privacy has been breached and how to, at the same time, come up with an appropriate penalty for the organization that didn’t follow the rules.

Depending on the group (and how early it is on Monday morning), the discussion can be interesting because of how widely varied people’s opinions are. When discussing the awards granted by the Federal Court in PIPEDA cases, some students think the $5,000 awards are appropriate. Most, however, recognize that this type of damage award does very little to promote good privacy practices. Even the $20,000 award levied against Bell is seen as being no real way to effectively make privacy a concern for such a big business.

This past week, yet another fine was levied under CASL. While trying to learn more about the case, I spent some time on the CRTC website where it summarizes cases that have ended up with penalties. SiriusXM was fined $650,000 this past spring for violating our Do Not Call rules. Wow!

How can we be so far apart when it comes to penalties for privacy violations and how on earth can it be more of a violation to call or email someone? Something to ponder as you catch up on this week’s news.