About David T.S. Fraser

Contact information:

Telephone:	(902) 444-8535
Facsimile:	(902) 425-6350
E-mail:	david.fraser@mcinnescooper.com
Address:	Purdy's Wharf, Tower II 1969 Upper Water Street Halifax, NS B3J 3R7
Education:	Shawnigan Lake School - 1989 BA (Honours) - University of British Columbia - 1993 MA (History) - Saint Mary's University - 1996 LLB - Dalhousie University Faculty of Law - 1999
Relevant memberships:	Nova Scotia Barristers' Society Canadian Bar Association Canadian IT Law Association Licensing Executives Society Information Technology Industry Alliance of Nova Scotia Halifax Chamber of Commerce Toronto Board of Trade BioNova NovaKnowledge International Association of Privacy Professionals

Brief Biography:

David is the chair of McInnes Cooper's Privacy Practice Group, working with large and small clients to implement compliance programs for Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). He regularly provides opinions related to Canadian privacy law and is a frequently invited speaker on this topic. David also acts for organizations in addressing complaints to the Privacy Commissioner.

David is the President of the Canadian IT Law Association. He is the Vice Chair of the National Privacy and Access Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association and co-chair of the Section's legislation and law reform committee. He has appeared before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics of the Canadian Parliament and has contributed to the CBA's submissions on privacy law reform, criminal justice matters, submissions to the Arar Inquiry, the Air India Inquiry, to name a few.

In addition to his privacy law practice, David provides legal services to corporate, institutional and individual clients with an emphasis on those in the technology and biosciences industries. David regularly provides advice on intellectual property protection and commercialization, technology-related acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, licensing and legal disputes, including all manner of software, Internet and electronic commerce issues. He acts for researchers and institutional clients in negotiating research funding and commercialization agreements.

David was honoured to be included in the inaugural (2006) edition of The Best Lawyers in Canada in the category of Information Technology law. In the spring of 2006, David was a recipient of an Outstanding Young Canadian Award by the Junior Chamber of Commerce International - Halifax Chapter. The JCI's Outstanding Young Canadians Award Program recognizes outstanding individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 who exemplify the best attributes of the world's young people. David was nominated in the "Accomplishment " category as an inspiration to young lawyers (and other professionals) who choose, as David did, to pursue their professional passions early on in their careers.

Before joining McInnes Cooper, David served as law clerk to Justice W.A. MacKay at the Federal Court of Canada and also worked as a member of a multi-disciplinary team addressing policy issues for Industry Canada on the topic of secure international electronic transactions.

In 2002, David was invited to be an associate of the Law and Technology Institute. He is a member of the faculty of Dalhousie Law School, where he teaches Internet and Media Law, Law and Technology, and Law and Policy for Electronic Commerce. He is on the editorial board of Canada's only computer law journal, the Canadian Journal of Law and Technology. Active in the Halifax technology community, David is secretary and director of advocacy for the Information Technology Industry Alliance of Nova Scotia (ITANS).

David grew up in a Canadian foreign service family, living in exotic locales such as Egypt, Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Washington DC, Romania and Ottawa.

Select Publications and Presentations

For publications arranged by topic, see David T.S. Fraser's Privacy Law Articles.

• Privacy Law and Law Firms, Nova Scotia Barristers' Society Continuing Professional Development Session, May 2006
• Privacy Compliance, Canadian Institute Conference Co-chair, May 2006
• Managing Employee and Workplace Privacy, Canadian Institute Conference, May 2006
• “New Hope for the Tort of Invasion of Privacy?”, (2006) 3. Can. Privacy L. Rev.
• Blogs and Blogging: Legal Issues, Halifax Association of Law Librarians, January 2006
• "When Ignorance Isn't Bliss: Liability and Pharmacy Practice", 41st Annual Pharmacy Fall Refresher Course, 30 October 2005, Halifax, NS.
• "The Impact of US Law on Canadian IT Business", Ninth Annual Canadian Information Technology Law Association Conference, 27 October 2005, Montreal, QC.
• "Privacy and Insurance Claims: Update after two years of PIPEDA", Canadian Bar Association - Nova Scotia, Insurance Law Subsection, October 2005.
• "Privacy and Medical Records", Nova Scotia Medical-Legal Society, 13 October 2005.
• "How US Law Affect Canadian IT Companies", Lawyers Weekly, 7 October 2005.
• "Privacy and the Practice of Criminal Law", Nova Scotia Criminal Lawyers Association, 27 February 2005.
• "Fundamentals of Commercialization", Brain Repair Centre, 19 January 2005.
• "IT Security and Privacy", High-Tech Crime Investigation Association, 26 November 2004.
• PIPEDA and public bodies in Nova Scotia, Department of Justice Workshop, November 2004.
• Privacy and Clinical Research, with Paula Jones-Wright, Clinical Research Association of Canada, November 2004.
• PIPEDA and Public Libraries, presentation to Nova Scotia library boards, October 2004.
• “Canada’s New Federal Privacy Law and Its Implications for Clinical Research”, Good Clinical Practices Journal (UK), October 2004 (with Paula Jones-Wright)
• PIPEDA and the Customer Contact Industry, ContactNB Annual Conference, October 2004
• Legal Aspects of IT Project Management, Project Management Institute Continuing Education, October 2004
• Cross-border Privacy Issues: The View from Canada, Presentation to the Canadian Bar Association Annual Meeting and Conference, August 2004
• Privacy and Financial Planners, Advocis presentation, July 2004
• Privacy and Pharmacists, Newfoundland Association of Independent Pharmacists, June 2004
• Privacy Law and HR Professionals, Presentation to Hewitt Associates Conference, June 2004
• Privacy and Credit Management, Presentation to the Credit Institute of Canada, June 2004
• Project Management and Privacy, Project Management Institute Continuing Education, June 2004
• “Privacy in Practice – PIPEDA and the Private [Medical] Practice”, Health Privacy: New Compliance Requirements and Best Practices (Insight Information conference) Halifax, June 2004
• Privacy and Medical Practices, Medical Society of Nova Scotia AGM, June 2004.
• “The Application of PIPEDA to Personal Health Information” (2004) 1 Can. Privacy L.R. 6
• Physician’s Privacy Manual (Halifax: National Privacy Services Inc., 2004)
• Privacy and Real Property Law, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Continuing Professional Development Conference, March 24, 2004
• Privacy and Business, Presentation to the St. Francis Xavier School of Business, March 17, 2004
• Universities and the New Federal Privacy Law, Atlantic Association of University Registrars, Halifax, November 28, 2003
• Advising Clients on PIPEDA, Nova Scotia Barristers' Society Continuing Professional Development Session, November 25, 2003
• Privacy and Your Practice, Nova Scotia Barristers' Society Continuing Professional Development Session, November 15, 2003
• The Arts Community and the New Federal Privacy Law, Presentation to members of the Halifax arts community, November 10, 2003
• Universities and the New Federal Privacy Law, Atlantic Association of University Financial Officers, Wolfville, November 2003
• Developments in Canadian Privacy Law, Credifax Atlantic Limited Fall 2003 Seminar, October 17, 2003
• Leading your Organization's Privacy Law Compliance: Training for Privacy Officers, Halifax October 8-9, 2003
• Countdown to January 1, 2004: What the new privacy law means to your business, Presentations in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, 22-25 September 2003
• PIPEDA: A Privacy Primer for Lawyers, Presentation to the Canadian Bar Association (Nova Scotia) Young Lawyers' Section, 25 September 2003
• "Focus on Privacy: PIPEDA and Universities and Colleges", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Fall 2003
• PIPEDA: The Impact of Privacy Law on RV Dealers, Presentation to the Recreational Vehicle Dealers Association of Nova Scotia, 12 September 2003
• "Focus on Privacy: The Importance of Document Destruction", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Summer 2003
• "Focus on Privacy: Does the New Federal Privacy Law Apply to My Organization?", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Summer 2003
• "Companies' Privacy Rules Dramatically Changing", Halifax Chronicle Herald Opinion Page (14 August 2003), B2
• "Focus on Privacy Law: PIPEDA in the Unionized Workplace", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Summer 2003
• "Focus on Privacy Law: Monitoring of Customer Service Calls", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Summer 2003
• "Focus on Technology Law: Open Source Software Raises Significant Legal Issues For Developers", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Spring 2003
• "Focus on Privacy Law: Privacy Commissioner Findings Relevant to Call Centres", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Spring 2003
• "Focus on Privacy Law: Personal Information Protection and Computer Security", McInnes Cooper Client Note, Spring 2003
• New Privacy Legislation: What it means to your business, Special McInnes Cooper Client Seminar, February 2003
• Intellectual Property Fundamentals for Commercialization, Canadian Association of University Research Administrators (Eastern), November 2002
• "Doing Business in Nova Scotia", Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association, November 2002
• "Focus on Personal Information", McInnes Cooper Client Note, November 2002
• "Legal aspects of the Atlantic Innovation Fund – Technology Commercialization", ITANS Seminar, September 2002
• "Update on Privacy Legislation", McInnes Cooper in-house seminar, May 2002
• Personal Information in the Private Sector, Continuing Legal Education Nova Scotia, March 2002
• "New Internet Domains Provide Opportunities and Potential Headaches", Halifax Daily News, 18 June 2001
• "Focus on Domain Names and Trademarks", McInnes Cooper Client Note, June 2001
• "Focus on E-Commerce Transactions", McInnes Cooper Client Note, June 2001
• "Focus on Secured Lenders and Crown Priorities", McInnes Cooper Client Note, May 2001
• "Collision Course: Public Inquiries and Criminal Prosecutions", Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies, 2000

Notable media appearances and mentions

• "Scorned women expose old flames' infidelities online", The Ottawa Citizen, 7 November 2005, p. A4.
• "Access to Medical Records", Legion Magazine, September/October 2005.
• Business Week Online, "The Spy Under the Hood", 24 May 2005.
• "Blogging the Spotlight", The National Magazine, Apr/May 2005. Vol. 14, Iss. 3; pg. 38
• The Canadian Press, "Privacy watchdog says Canadian businesses should learn from CIBC's fax fiasco", 18 April 2005 (also available here).
• The Bill Good Show, CKNW (Vancouver), 4 January 2004
• Holder Tonight, CJAD (Montreal), 3 January 2004
• "Patient profiles soon to be a click away", The Ottawa Citizen, 29 December 2004, A12
• "They're watching you, and they know who you are", The Ottawa Citizen, 28 December 2004, A10
• "Our every move is tracked and recorded", The Ottawa Citizen, 27 December 2004.
• "Eye scans for U.S.-bound travellers", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Television News - Vancouver, 30 November 2004.
• "Iris scans and border security", The National (CBC), 30 November 2004.
• "Retailers, receipts and privacy", Mainstreet (CBC Radio), 30 November 2004.
• "Who has your number?", The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), 27 November 2004.
• "Business, customers lack privacy know-how", The Daily News (Halifax), 27 November 2004.
• "Web too vast to patrol", The Daily News (Halifax), 20 June 2004.
• "Privacy rules spawn new company", The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), 6 April 2004.
• "The privacy net", The National (Canadian Bar Association), Jan-Feb 2004.
• "Businesses will soon face privacy issues", The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal, 30 December 2003.
• "Privacy rules catching businesses by surprise", The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax), 19 August 2003, p. A1.

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