: The beginning of another academic yearhas me reflecting on what more we can give students beyond the curriculum. We spend considerable time thinking about what students need to know and what they need to be able to do. We develop learning outcomes, create assignments, design simulations, evaluate learning, and provide feedback. All those things are important. However, some of the most valuable learning opportunities are not found in the curriculum at all. Sometimes, they arrive in an email. I remember an interaction with a student from several years ago. The student had sent a series of emails that were, . . . [more] The post The Learning Opportunities We Don’t Plan For appeared first on Slaw
: This summer our law library intern (shout out to Bailey Kaye!) is reviewing our archival casebook collection for a digitization project. Among them was a casebook for exchange students arriving at Dalhousie Law School in 1978. It outlined an introduction to the common law, as provided by the Sir James Dunn Law Library. In this casebook, the Sir James Dunn Law Library included a helpful list of general information about library etiquette. Let’s review how you were to conduct yourself in the law library of 1978, shall we? The one rule that has survived nearly word-for-word, across nearly fifty years . . . [more] The post Briefcases & Cigarettes: The Law Library of 1978 appeared first on Slaw
: Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent letters today to more than a dozen prominent technology companies reminding businesses of their obligation to comply fully with the Take It Down Act (TIDA) no later than May 19. Signed into law last year by President Donald J. Trump with the strong support of First Lady Melania Trump, TIDA requires covered platforms to establish a process allowing victims, including children, to request removal of intimate photos or videos shared without their consent. The letters were sent to major platforms , including Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Automattic, Bumble, Discord, Match Group, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Reddit, SmugMug, Snapchat, TikTok and X. The letters state the definitions and requirements of the law, along with the penalties for non-compliance. “We stand ready to monitor compliance, investigate violations, and enforce the Take It Down Act,” said Chairman Ferguson. “Protecting the vulnerable—especially children—from this harmful abuse is a top priority[...]
: FTC consumer protection year in review offers 2020 vision for your business lfair January 8, 2020 | 9:26AM FTC consumer protection year in review offers 2020 vision for your business By Lesley Fair They say hindsight is 20/20, but what about foresight? We’re not ones to prognosticate, but a look at notable FTC cases and initiatives from the past year suggests some topics likely to be top of mind in months to come. Here is a non-exhaustive list of issues in our 2019 rearview mirror and likely visible through the 2020 windshield. Consumer privacy. The FTC’s $5 billion enforcement action against Facebook made history and headlines, but the other notable part of the case is the monumental change the order mandates to Facebook’s privacy ecosystem. The Commission opinion in Cambridge Analytica reaffirms the proposition that like any other claim, a company’s privacy promises are viewed through the lens of established FTC consumer perception principles. A series of cases demonstrates the agency’s continued commitmen[...]
: Alexandra Farolan, Library Assistant | Courthouse Libraries BC 1. Tell us a little about your educational background and how you entered the legal information industry. I am currently a Library Information and Technology Diploma student at Langara College. Prior to this, I worked on two certificate programs through the British Columbia Institute of Technology (Office Administrator with Technology and Medical Office Assisting). I worked as a registration and health records clerk for a few years in the hospitals. Managing patient records introduced me to the processes of information preservation and confidentiality which in turn piqued my interest in legislation pertaining to freedom of information. I've also had some personal experiences which have lead to my overall interest in examining opportunities in the legal industry. I generally find knowing moreabout my rights is empowering and being surrounded professionally in an industry that serves those who advocate and rally for rights is something I [...]
: Brussels, 20 January - The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has adopted a report on the implementation of the right of access by controllers . The report summarises the outcome of a series of coordinated national actions carried out in 2024 under the Coordinated Enforcement Framework (CEF). It lists the issues that were observed for some controllers, along with a series of recommendations to help them implement the right of access. A central element is controllers’ awareness of the EDPB Guidelines 01/2022 on data subjects rights – Right of access and whether these guidelines were followed in practice. EDPB Deputy Chair Zdravko Vukíc said: “The CEF is a valuable initiative that helps strengthen the cooperation among Data Protection Authorities (DPAs): by tackling selected topics in a coordinated fashion, they achieve greater efficiency and more consistency. How controllers implement the right of access lies at the heart of data protection and it is one of the most frequently exercised data subject rights[...]
: Is it amour – or scam-more? lfair February 11, 2021 | 12:17PM Is it amour – or scam-more? By Lesley Fair Online romance may begin with Panic! At The Disco’s High Hopes , but according to a new FTC Data Spotlight , all too often it ends with the conclusion that – to quote the J. Geils Band – Love Stinks . Far be it from us to put a damper on Valentine’s Day, but reports to the Consumer Sentinel Network suggest that the injury inflicted by romance scams is on the rise. According to the new Data Spotlight , “For three years running, people have reported losing more money on romance scams than on any other fraud type identified in Sentinel. In 2020, reported losses to romance scams reached a record $304 million, up about 50% from 2019. For an individual, that meant a median dollar loss of $2,500.” Why the increase? The continued popularity of dating apps is part of the story, but the pandemic has played a part, too. For right now, the need for social distancing and masking makes the “meet cute” at the local cof[...]
: Le texte français suit. Dear CALLeagues, I hope this finds you well and enjoying the first stretch of summer. Our formal post-conference survey has now been released, and I encourage every member to take a few minutes to complete it. If you joined us in Moncton, please tell us what worked, what did not, and what you would like to see from future CALL/ACBD conferences. If you were not able to attend, we want to hear from you as well. This survey is aboutmore than feedback on one event. It will help us understand who is coming to our conferences, why they attend, what they value, and what barriers may be keeping others away. We also want to know what might make attendance easier or more compelling in future years. Your answers will help us improve next year’s conference in Saskatoon and plan more thoughtfully for the years ahead. On that note, I am very excited to share some big news: CALL/ACBD will be heading to Toronto in 2028 to celebrate the Association’s 65th anniversary! Sixty-five years is a remarkable[...]
: New data from the Federal Trade Commission reveal that people reported losing a staggering $3.5 billion to imposter scams in 2025, with reported losses increasing nearly three times since 2020. FTC data also show that people reported imposter scams more than any other fraud category in 2025—nearly one in three fraud reports wereabout imposter scams. These scams lured consumers through text, phone, email, social media, search engine results and other means. Some of the costliest impersonation scams start with a fake security alert, often from a bank. People are convinced to move money to “protect” it, with their losses often limited only by their available funds. Last year, people reported losing nearly $1 billion to business impersonators with the highest reported losses to bank impersonators—and about $920 million to government impersonators, up from $866 million and $789 million respectively in 2024. The FTC has seen a striking increase in reported fraud losses to all types of fraud—about $16 billion was [...]
: Root, root root for the regions lfair September 24, 2018 | 2:03PM Root, root root for the regions By Andrew Smith, Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection T his year eight major league baseball teams are celebrating milestone anniversaries – and so are the FTC’s regional offices. In 1918, the Commission opened the first three of its regional offices. Today, eight regional offices continue to knock it out the park on behalf of America’s consumers. So it’s only fitting that on this momentous day we acknowledge the regional offices’ century of pennant-winning performances. According to the Commission’s 1918 Annual Report, “In order to expedite the greatly increased work of the Commission . . . small branch offices were established in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.” Over time, the FTC has added other locations for a current total of eight offices in seven regions. Regional staff work with the Bureau of Consumer Protection and the Bureau of Competition on investigations and litigation. But they are in [...]
: FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list? lfair March 1, 2018 | 5:17PM FTC recaps consumer complaint data for 2017: Who’s on the list? By Lesley Fair Once bitten, twice shy. That fundamental principle of human behavior is why reputable businesses that work hard to earn consumers’ confidence should support the FTC’s ongoing efforts to fight fraud. According to the FTC’s 2017 Consumer Sentinel Data Book , consumers reported losing a total of $905 million to fraud last year. That’s close to a billion bucks people won’t be able to spend on legitimate products and services from credible companies. That figure is up $63 million from last year, although the total number of reports received from consumers is down from 2.98 million in 2016 to 2.68 million in 2017. Topping the list that no industry wants to be on is debt collection, making up 23% of the total number of complaints. But there are two caveats: 1) that number is down from 2016; and 2) the high number of debt collection reports was du[...]
: The Federal Trade Commission announced today that is considering whether to update its Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses or take other action to prevent online platforms from engaging in ad-optimization practices that may be furthering impersonation scams. In an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to be published in the Federal Register , the FTC is seeking comment on the extent to which ad-optimization tools and services offered by social media, search engines and other digital marketplace platforms further efforts by scammers to impersonate legitimate businesses and government agencies using online ads. “Free markets depend on trust, transparency and consumers’ ability to make informed choices. Impersonation scams—especially when amplified by digital platforms that profit from them—do more than rob Americans of their hard-earned money,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “They erode the very foundation that allows competitive markets[...]