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ARTICLE · 26 JULY 2012

MAC And IP Addresses: Personal Information?

Dentons Canada LLP
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A minor kerfuffle broke out at a recent (May 30, 2012) U.S. Federal Trade Commission workshop, "In Short: Advertising and Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World."

CanadaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Timothy Banks
Timothy Banks
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A minor kerfuffle broke out at a recent (May 30, 2012) U.S. Federal Trade Commission workshop, "In Short: Advertising and Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World."  During a discussion of a privacy and advertising on mobile platforms, Sara Kloek, Director of Outreach for the Association for Competitive Technology, stated that a MAC address was information about a device and not personal information. Pam Dixon, founder and executive director of the World Privacy Forum, was quick to snap back stating that a MAC address was personal information.

Who is right?  Why is it that we are still debating this fundamental issue?  And is the answer different for IP addresses?  This post is a bit longer than most here on www.datagovernancelaw.com but I'll try to unpack these issues in the context of Canadian privacy laws and principles.

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