On 12/17/19 2:27 PM, Russell Reiter via talk wrote:
[snip]


| I wonder why, especially in this data stealing age, the practice is not firmly
| against the law?

Yes.  And the boundaries clearly marked.

The problem is that its a matter of private law. The government would essentially fetter itself if it actually made it illegal for you to give out your SIN voluntarily. This might be the case in settlement if someone has sued you, won and now has the right to a full accounting of your income and assets. 

Enforcing laws is expensive and there is a threshold which is bounded by economy of scale. As a general matter of private law, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) is the rule.

Its kind of like the government is a national park with a grand canyon running through it. The can put up signs which say don't get too close to the edge or you may fall in but they can't really stop you from jumping off the edge. 


Its not that I was giving out my SIN voluntarily. It was a requirement of getting service from a telecom provider.
Yes I could have refused to fill out the the application and walked out of the store.
But then I would not have had the telecom service that I needed at the time.

So now the Telecom provider has my SIN.
Are they free to use as they wish?
Could they use it as my client ID and paste it on the front the bills they send out to me?

Part of my concern was that enough personal information for someone to completely steal my identity was provided to a call center in a third world country with little or no oversight.

The carrier should have an obligation of care with my information.
But the only obligation that the carrier has is to maximize the shareholder value.


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Alvin Starr                   ||   land:  (647)478-6285
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