David Elder

Practice Areas

David Elder is counsel who practices communications, competition and privacy law. He is Chair of the Communications and Privacy & Data Protection Groups and a member of the Competition & Foreign Investment, Government Relations, and International Regulation & Compliance Groups. He also serves as the firm’s Chief Privacy Officer.

David is recognized as one of the country’s foremost authorities on Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), having been involved in all stages of the development of the new law, including making formal submissions on behalf of a number of clients and having successfully worked to help secure some key amendments to the law and regulations during the legislative process. He has advised many clients with respect to the interpretation and application of the new law, as well as assisting businesses with the development of anti-spam compliance programs. He is in high demand as a speaker on the topic of CASL.

With respect to privacy matters, David provides privacy compliance advice to a wide range of Canadian and international businesses, including technology companies, on-line service providers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, conducting both "bricks and mortar" and online activities. He also provides advice with respect to managing data breaches and navigating privacy issues arising in M&A transactions. David serves as Special Digital Privacy Counsel to the Canadian Marketing Association, in which role he advocates and advises on a range of electronic privacy issues, including spam regulation, including representing the CMA before several Parliamentary Committees. David has shared his cybersecurity expertise as an author, speaker and lecturer.

In his communications law practice, David has provided legal and strategic advice with respect to a wide range of broadcasting and telecommunications proceedings, including those relating to licensing, policy matters and competitive disputes. In various written, oral, expedited and dispute resolution proceedings he has advocated on behalf of clients before the CRTC, Industry Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and several Parliamentary Committees and working groups.

He serves a broad range of clients in the communications industry including broadcasters, broadcasting distributors, Internet content providers, software-as-a-service providers, property developers, government departments and agencies, industry associations and telecommunications service providers employing Internet, wired, wireless and satellite technologies.

David is also one of Canada’s leading practitioners in the area of unsolicited telecommunications. He has many years of experience in this area, assisting, during his tenure as counsel with the CRTC, with the development of some of the current rules, and in subsequent roles, arguing some of the key cases dealing with the interpretation and application of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. He has advised a range of clients with respect to compliance with these Rules and National Do Not Call List requirements, including representing clients with respect to investigations and enforcement action by the CRTC.

David is editor of the firm’s Communications Law blog on legal and policy developments relating to communications. He is also a Research Contributor to the “Privacy Interviews with Experts Series” published by Nymity News, an international provider of privacy information, compliance and accountability solutions.