On 21 September in his annual report to the Canadian Parliament, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien called for organizations to be “be more transparent and accountable for their privacy practices.”
Mr. Therrien went on to say that he believes:
"...Something must change or we run the risk that Canadians will lose trust in the digital economy, thus hindering its growth and they may not enjoy all the benefits afforded by innovation. More fundamentally, it is quite unhealthy in a democracy when most citizens fear one of their basic rights is routinely not respected..."
And he mentioned specifically search and analytics:
"Search engine indexing websites and big data analytics are just two examples where the volume and velocity of information collection and use may make consent impracticable."
The Commissioner has further recommended:
"...that that there be an explicit requirement in law that institutions only collect information that is necessary for the operation of a program or activity..."
And furthermore he expressed concern about US President Donald Trump's executive order excluding non-US-citizens and lawful permanent residents from the protections of the US Privacy Act.
So we can likely look forward to having tougher restrictions on the collection and use of personal information of Canadians as well as Brits and continental Europeans.
Let's all start tightening our ships now if we haven't already.
- David
