There was a time that oil companies ruled the globe, but “black gold” is no longer the world’s most valuable resource — it’s been surpassed by data. The five most valuable companies in the world today — Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet — have commodified data and taken over their respective sectors. “Data is clearly the new oil,” says Jonathan Taplin, director emeritus of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and the author of Move Fast and Break Things: How Google, Facbook and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy. But with…
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Updating ‘Briefcase Law’: Defence Lawyers Try To End Warrantless Smartphone Searches At Border – Technology & Science – CBC News
Imagine losing your smartphone or leaving your laptop behind on a train or bus. How much could someone learn about you — your interests, your lifestyle, your habits — based on what they could access on the device? What conclusions could someone make when the photos you’ve taken, the apps you’ve installed and the websites you’ve visited are laid bare? According to the Supreme Court of Canada: quite a few. Unlike a briefcase or a filing cabinet, judges have found, a smartphone can contain “immense amounts of information” that touch a person’s “biographical core.” Read…
Read MoreCanadian Co-Author Of U.S. Climate Report Says Findings ‘Flatly Contradict’ Trump Administration – Politics – CBC News
A Canadian scientist who helped author an exhaustive U.S. draft report on climate change says the study makes it clear dramatic action is needed to stop global temperatures from rising, but that her team has no idea how the Trump administration will react to it. The report, written by scientists from 13 federal agencies, concludes that the United States is already feeling the effects of climate change, with a stark increase in the frequency of heat waves, heavy rains and other extreme weather over the last four decades. The report is now…
Read MoreFree Wi-Fi Has Driven 88% Of Canadians To Put Their Personal Info At Risk: Report – National | Globalnews.ca
A strong Wi-Fi signal is one major factor that helps Canadians decide where they want to stay when they go away for long weekends, said a risk report released by Norton last month. And while a hefty majority of Canadians believe their information is safe while using public Wi-Fi networks at hotels, restaurants and elsewhere, the report reveals that these services aren’t as secure as users might like to believe they are. “The most common misconception about public Wi-Fi is that it’s secure,” Kevin Haley, Norton’s director of security response, said…
Read MoreMore Fast-Charging Stations Coming For Electric Vehicles In The Maritimes | The Chronicle Herald
HALIFAX — Driving an electric car along Canada’s rugged East Coast is about to get a lot easier. Electric utilities in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are moving ahead with plans to install more charging stations along major highways. “It’s a good step forward,” says Wayne Groszko, renewable energy co-ordinator with the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre. “When they’re in place, people will be able to drive their electric cars farther. I see that as a good thing.” In Nova Scotia, the province’s electric utility announced Wednesday it will set up 12 more stations along the province’s 100-series highways,…
Read MoreLiberalizing Cross-Border Online Sales Is One NAFTA Request To Which Canada Should Yield: Neil Macdonald – CBC News | Opinion
The lobbyist on the other end of the phone laughed. I’d just asked a question about Canada’s so-called de minimis threshold, a subject which, even in wonky Ottawa, provokes glances at heaven and condescending grins. As in: “Oh, that again. When will you understand that no one understands it and nobody cares?” Well, that might be true. Canadian media dislike complex trade issues, and Canadian consumers are largely a supine, uninformed, apathetic bunch, inclined to do whatever they’re told and behave like the milk cows they’re treated as, by government…
Read MoreCanadian Cars Turning Electric Without Government Forcing The Issue: Industry – NEWS 1130
OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – Great Britain and France intend to bar outright the sale of any gas powered vehicles by 2040 but even one of the biggest proponents of electric cars in Canada says that’s likely an impossible goal for this country. France announced its policy in early July, followed by Britain this week, joining Norway and India as the only countries in the world with a plan to entirely phase out the sale of gas or diesel powered cars and trucks. The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate…
Read More‘Energizer Bunny’ Loonie To Peak Near 80 Cents US: Experts | CTV News
Two leading Bay Street strategists expect the Canadian dollar’s steady climb over the last two months will start to top out at about 80 cents US, a level it flirted with on Monday amid signs of an increasingly robust economy. The loonie, which ended Monday with an average trading price of 79.92 cents US, up 0.23 of a cent, has packed on more than seven cents since early May — a surge largely fueled by the vote of confidence earlier this month from the Bank of Canada in the form…
Read MoreTrump Asked Ottawa To Drop Duties On e-Commerce Under NAFTA. Canadians Should Cheer, Say Experts – National | Globalnews.ca
Canada has been fretting over U.S. President Donald Trump’s objectives for the upcoming NAFTA renegotiations. The administration published its wish list on Monday, ahead of the Aug. 16 date set for the start of the trade talks. But at least one of those asks should have Canadian consumers cheering. The U.S. requested that Ottawa raise the value of goods that Canadians can buy online without paying import duties and taxes to US$800 (C$1,011 ), up from its current level of C$20. That would be “unambiguously good for consumers,” Daniel Schwanen, vice-president…
Read MoreU.S.-Bound Travellers To Face ‘Enhanced Security Measures’ At All Canadian Airports – Toronto – CBC News
Airline passengers travelling from Canada to the United States will face a new battery of “enhanced security measures” now required by the Department of Homeland Security. The new measures will be enforced starting July 19 and include: WestJet and Air Canada are advising passengers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their scheduled departure to accommodate the enhanced screening process. Faster airport security? New automated checkpoints may have you sailing through Enhanced airport security could end U.S. laptop ban. Read full story here: U.S.-Bound Travellers To Face ‘Enhanced…
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