Street-level Imaging Technology, the Internet and You

Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Denham has Canadians’ privacy in mind as she keeps a close eye on the development of street-level imaging technology, such as Google’s Street View application and Canpages. As popular as these sites are, there are some serious issues to watch out for. The OPC, along with Commissioners in B.C., Alberta and Québec, recently published a fact sheet on street-level imaging sites and privacy. more

The OPC Action Plan

The OPC Senior Management team is charging ahead to tackle the country’s privacy issues and concerns. more

 

OPC in Action

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart, Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Denham and Assistant Commissioner Chantal Bernier, as well as other OPC staff have been busy at events, raising awareness of privacy issues. more

 

New Recruits

The OPC has doubled its power to investigate privacy issues, hiring 15 new employees for a total of 28. The new recruits spent two months in intensive training, gaining not just the knowledge to do the job, but a passion to get started. more

A Delicate Balance

Genetic information technology is moving so fast that privacy policy is always trying to catch up. Experts from across North America discussed these and other emerging genetic information issues at workshop organized by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in Ottawa. more

Sharing Privacy Practices

Investigators from across the country and federal, provincial and territorial Commissioners and Ombudspersons held back-to-back conferences in Ottawa in February. It allowed many attendees to participate in both conferences and share information and ideas about current privacy issues. more

News of Note

Privacy Disappearing

A new study sounds the alarm about the protection of anonymity in a technological world, warning that laws in Canada and in other countries are diminishing people’s ability to protect their privacy and identity. The study, which was published in the book Lessons from the Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy and Identity in a Networked Society, was unveiled at a book launch, hosted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, April 8, 2009. Read the news release.

The OPC is responsible for overseeing compliance with PIPEDA and the Privacy Act. These two laws protect our privacy rights and describe the obligations of organizations that seek to collect, use or disclose our personal information.

For real-life examples of how the legislation comes into play, visit our case summaries:

• PIPEDA Case summary #2009-007: Mother and daughter were videotaped during covert surveillance of another individual
• PIPEDA Case summary #2009-006: Airline ticket seller was mistaken in its collection of exact age information
• PIPEDA Case summary #2009-005: Husband’s financial information disclosed to wife’s lawyers by accounting firm improperly complying with Summons to Witness
• PIPEDA Case summary #2009-004: No Consent Required for Using Publicly Available Personal Information Matched with Geographically Specific Demographic Statistics

• Your Customers’ Driver’s Licence Card - Do you need it? A Guide for Retailers
• Guidance on Covert Video Surveillance in the Private Sector
• Social Networks Sites in the Workplace: An Introduction
• Privacy and Social Networking in the Workplace
• Second Life: Privacy in Virtual Worlds
• Review of the regulatory measures associated with confidential customer information and privacy