On March 1, 2012, Google will replace its existing privacy policy with an entirely new policy, which will apply to most Google products, including the Google search engine, Gmail and YouTube, and consolidate over 60 different existing privacy policies for various Google products and services.
Pursuant to the new privacy policy, if an account-holder is signed in to a Google product, Google will combine the information that the individual has provided from one service with the information from its other services, such that the account-holder is treated as one single user across all Google products. For example, if a user spends an hour researching hockey on the Google search engine, the next time that user logs into YouTube, he or she might get recommendations for hockey videos, along with advertising for hockey gear or sporting events.
The new privacy policy has been highly criticized by some commentators since Google disclosed its plan in late January 2012, perhaps unfairly. To better address many of the concerns and arguments relating to the new Google privacy policy, we have set out several considerations below.
Louise Summerhill, Co-Chair of the Aird & Berlis LLP Tax Litigation Group, won the appeal in the Tax Court of Canada on behalf of Velcro Canada Inc. The CRA had argued that its Dutch parent, which was paid royalties for the use of intellectual property, was not the beneficial owner of the royalties and thus that the Canada-Netherlands Tax Treaty would not apply so that withholding tax was payable at the rate of 25%.