TECHNOLOGY AND THE LAW : The Legal Fineprint of Advances in Technology
- Adrian J. Carter
- Aug 11, 2017
- 2 min read
LAW IN THE DIGITAL AGE
THE SERIES
Technological advances are great, aren’t they?
I distinctly remember having to type out every individual letter on my Nokia 3310, and often wonder the lengths we had to go to text back in those days. I also remember the day I got the Blackberry Pearl and was asked by the Rogers store dude if I wanted 250mb of data to go with my plan.
“What the flippin’ hell would I need internet for on a cellphone?!”, I remember wondering. I connected to wi-fi and quickly realized that a website does not belong on a mobile device.
“Im ok, thanks.” I told him, and walked away with my phone and only ever used wi-fi when I needed to.
Fast forward to earlier this year when my iPhone 6s Plus was showing signs of ageing in mid-2017. I had designed my website and was wondering if I really needed to spend much time on the desktop version of the same. More recently, I fired up my tablet and Google News reminded me that the anniversary special iPhone X was to be unveiled the next day.
I had just lost my 300+ day snap streak with my colleague Daniel from Germany and it was a bleak day. I was prompted to install the latest update to the app and now could see that my buddy in Köln was equally as upset as me, as he struggled to keep his cool at dinner at 26 Hofmillerstraße St.
Today was the tomorrow that we all had dreamt of, and I was already a few steps behind.
Welcome to the future, she sure is all shiny and beautiful..
But is the wave of melancholy that sets in when your new iPhone 7 is already outdated, a few months after saving up enough money to snag one, the only drawback? Could there more to the story than realizing that while all your friends are hanging out at yo' boy Darcy’s crib on Bauer St., your avatar shows you at your grandma’s basement?
The law has also had to evolve with the advent of technology. Legally speaking, this can be a tricky minefield to navigate and one wrong “click” can land you into trouble. The digital age has ushered in, a new pattern of offences, both criminal and otherwise, related to the use of technology. I have personally worked on a few of these matters, both in Australia and Canada. The very issues surrounding cyber law, internet law, and technology in the law itself, are so new that most people may not realize that they are doing anything wrong or that certain activities are prohibited by legislation.
I have, unfortunately, seen too many people jeopardize their privacy and expose themselves or their information to the wrong hands. On the very worst end of the spectrum, I have also come across clients charged criminally by their actions related to technology and the use of the internet.
My “Law in the Digital Age” series will shed light on the legal side of how technology can be a two-pronged sword.
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