OPC seeks future-proof updates to public sector privacy laws

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner wants Canada’s yet-to-be revamped federal public sector privacy law to take into consideration how future developments in the digital landscape may affect personal privacy. In a submission filed Monday responding to a Department of Justice consultation on the law, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said that he “strongly” supports the department’s goal of modernizing the “long outdated” law. “The consultation document proposes substantive changes that represent significant strides toward a law, in step with modern domestic and international norms that would help to foster public trust that our federal government is acting effectively in the public interest while ensuring the protection of privacy rights,” said Therrien. “We believe a legal framework that entrenches privacy as a human right, and as a safeguard for other democratic rights and citizens’ trust in government, is essential for modernized privacy laws in both the public and private sector,” said the submission. It later credits rapidly evolving digital technologies as one reason that the act should be adapted. Therrien backed up the notion that rapid technological advances enhance the need for privacy to be taken seriously in a speech at the Option Consommateurs virtual conference Thursday. “The pandemic has greatly accelerated the digital revolution, which was already progressing rapidly. That being said, digital technologies also pose new privacy risks,” said Therrien. “Digitization is also seen as key to our economic recovery. This is not a bad thing, as long as we institute and adapt laws to make sure our rights are protected in this environment.” “I am convinced we can protect privacy while also encouraging technological innovation. These are not contradictory values. They can indeed coexist. It is really a question of design: of the products themselves and of the laws that govern their use.” The OPC submission on Canada’s public sector privacy laws gave support to a number of other concrete changes, including an update to the definition of personal info and clarifying when someone is “identifiable” from their data, additional consideration for situations when business contact information might also be personal, enhanced transparency in the government’s handling of personal information, clearer language on personal information disclosures that occur in the public interest, and a clear definition of what types of “publicly available” information someone might still reasonably expect to be private. The OPC is on board with the Department of Justice’s proposal to introduce mandatory reporting to the commission when people are affected by a breach “where there is a risk of significant harm” to someone, in addition to it recommending that it be provided with access to reports about causes of breaches and “related lessons learned.” The Commissioner also wants more power to make orders beyond his current authority to deal with denial of access requests. “Indeed, access complaints affect only a few hundred Canadians each year, whereas our Office's investigations into non-compliance with the collection, use and disclosure provisions can affect millions of Canadians.” According to Therrien, maximizing regulatory effectiveness would enhance the Department of Justice’s proposals for public sector privacy law updates — while he said the department has made good proposals, he stated that they “nonetheless lag behind the privacy laws of other jurisdictions, both domestic and international.” The submission also noted that the federal government launched a still-ongoing review of the Access to Information Act last year. The OPC said the Information and Privacy acts will play central roles in preserving the public’s information rights and modernizing these laws should “occur in tandem.” -Reporting by Hannah Daley at hdaley@thewirereport.ca and editing by Tim Forster at tforster@thewirereport.ca

OPC seeks future-proof updates to public sector privacy laws

News | March 25, 2021

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OPC seeks future-proof updates to public sector privacy laws

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