Title
Douez v Facebook: Implications for Canadian Information Policy
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
7-19-2017
Abstract
This presentation was made for Lou D'Alton's Information Policy class in the Faculty of Information & Media Studies. It looks at the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Douez v Facebook Inc where the court declined to dismiss an action brought against Facebook Inc for breach of privacy. The action was based on the B.C. Privacy Act and it was brought as a class action in B.C.
Facebook sought to dismiss the action because of a "choice of forum" clause in its terms of service agreement which said that disputes will be brought in California courts.
This presentation looks at the case in greater detail and also considers its implications for other consumer license agreements where terms often purport to supersede statutory rights. The author would like to thank Prof. D'Alton and the Library & Information Science graduate students in his class for their thoughtful feedback and questions.