Privacy group wants to help OPC form future guidelines

A new group made up of businesses and industry associations wants to help guide the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on issues including data de-identification and a reform of PIPEDA, according to documents obtained by The Wire Report. The 15-member Business Privacy Working Group (BPWG), which includes Telus Corp., the Canadian Wireless and Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and IBM Corp., met for the first time via teleconference with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on March 22. The group was chaired by IBM’s Anick Fortin-Cousens, who gives way to Telus’ chief data and trust officer Pamela Snively. At the March meeting, according to scribbled handnotes obtained through a Wire Report access to information request, the BPWG sought to overall help develop the OPC’s future guidance by getting advanced “notice” on what the office is looking at so it could help formulate their questions for industry. One such consultation is the OPC’s look at de-identification, in which businesses go through the process of anonymizing data to use that information in different ways without risking exposure if it falls into the wrong hands. “Our role in that process is merely to provide the OPC with information about what happens in other jurisdictions, what any previous work we’ve done on that issue might be and what businesses’ current practices are,” Scott Smith, senior director of innovation policy at member group the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said in a phone interview. “In other words, they take the information and do what they need to do with it.” The group pitched its industry reach to show the OPC that they have broad representation in the private sector. One note read that the group hopes to “help sell” the OPC’s guidance and “make it implementable,” noting where previous guidance “did not have industry input,” it was “not readily implementable.” “The whole intent of the working group is to be collaborative with the OPC,” Smith said. “It’s designed as a tool for the OPC to bounce ideas off of, see what works, what might not work, what are the challenges in compliance, and if there is a gap in the larger business community,” Smith said. The BPWG had a follow-up meeting in late April, where de-identification, cross-border data and “OPC guidance more generally” was discussed, OPC spokesman Corey Larocque said in an email. The March meeting came weeks before the OPC launched a consultation on protections for person information transiting through borders, which was suspended in light of the federal government’s sweeping digital charter and a proposal to reform the private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), announced last month. Also last month, a network of data stewards including Telus, Rogers Communications Inc., and BCE Inc. formed a network to promote the anonymization of personal information in Canada. Smith said the organization is looking at the digital charter and reforms to PIPEDA, including its mention of data portability and the right to be forgotten, as prime issues because smaller businesses may have a capacity problem to address those areas. “We would like to be able to provide what the practical implications of what they’re doing moving forward and provide a picture of what is functionally possibile with the technology that exists,” Smith said. “We also have views on the challenges that might be imposed on Canadian business, particularly smaller businesses, with the way Europe has moved and the GDPR.” In a December 18, 2018 letter to privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien, also retrieved from the same access request, the group noted that it came together a “few months ago” to “infuse business privacy and data responsibility thought leadership into the Canadian environment,” thanking Therrien for meeting them seven days earlier to introduce themselves. “During our meeting, you noted the challenges associated with consulting with a broad range of stakeholders, as well as the challenges associated with limited resources to fulfill a broad mandate,” the letter said. “To that end, as discussed, the Business Privacy Working Group would welcome the opportunity to serve as a broad-based consultative forum, to assist the OPC by, for example, providing existing materials we have developed or sharing experiences as the OPC develops guidance,” it added. The rest of the group includes the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada, Air Canada, Business Council of Canada, Canada Post, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federal of Independent Business, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, Canadian Marketing Association, Insurance Bureau of Canada, Sun Life, and GoEasy. Smith notes that the group isn’t a lobbyist, but a forum where ideas are bounced around. He said an organization from within the membership can lobby on their own behalf on the issues discussed within the group. Therrien initially had qualms about whether the group truly represented a broad enough swath of industry, as he said in an email to colleagues, “while they represent a good share of industry, there may be important sectors or stakeholders missing.” — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Privacy group wants to help OPC form future guidelines

News | June 10, 2019

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Privacy group wants to help OPC form future guidelines

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