Chris Brauer Media Project [BLOG]

It really is a wonderful world in which we live. It seems that everything has a way of equaling itself out. Take Telus Communications Inc -- motto 'the future is friendly' -- for example. If you are a Canadian customer of this corporate giant you don't need to look far for the culprit behind annoying (friendly?) telemarketing calls to your home or business at anytime of day or night.

Telus repackages telephone directory listings (your white pages listing, or even unlisted contact details) into CD-ROMs and machine-readable-lists and sells them to telemarketers, charities, political parties, and basically anyone else who will pay cash for your info. It has always been a personal irritant of mine that Telus refuses to tell customers when they sign-up for services that this is what they intend to do with the information supplied. I suspect many customers remain unaware that Telus is the source of their telemarketing grief. This is wrong on all kinds of levels. It is an infringement of the privacy of Telus customers because they don't ask for consent and it is dirty economics when a company sells your information, making a profit that rightfully should go to the owner of this information, should he/she choose to trade some telephone harassment for dollars.

Well all that is about to change thanks to the noble and persistent efforts of Matthew Englander, a non-practicing Vancouver lawyer who is waging a one-man war against the telecommunications giant, and winning. A Canadian federal appeals tribunal ruled unanimously last week that Telus Communication Inc must go to greater lengths to get its customers' approval before reselling their personal information.

The telco now has 60 days to offer suggestions for revamping its policies to bring them into compliance with the privacy law. Predictably Telus is squirming in the face of responsibility, already insisting that the ruling should only apply to new customers and considering appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Well we never expected that they would actually do the right thing but it is impressive that we have a system that rewards the just, even if it takes a little time, and even if the truant corporation refuses to recognize the error of their ways. And bravo to the brave Matthew Englander who stuck with his pursuit despite some early pessimism and setbacks and at considerable personal cost and risk. He is so good he has surpassed Jerry Seinfeld as the greatest defender of the public good against the evil telemarketing scourge.

Minutes after the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) was enacted on Jan 1, 2001, Englander became the first Canadian to lodge a formal complaint to the federal privacy commissioner under the new law. Almost four years later we've won the right to stand up and just say NO to the dirty information thieving buggers. What a wonderful world.

Labels: business, canada