Social networking sites have become increasingly popular among Canadian Internet users. According to a poll by TNS Canadian Facts, a Canadian marketing and social research firm, online teens and young adults are the heaviest users of social networking sites, with 83% of 13-17 year olds and 74% of 18-29 year olds having visited at least one such site. Six in 10 people in their 30s have visited at least one social networking site and 45% of those in their 40s have done so.

On our Blog, we have posted a presentation on social networking entitled “What Would You Want a Friend of a Friend of a Friend to Know about You?”. We have also added it to this site to raise public awareness about the privacy implications of social networking.

From our point of view as privacy advocates, a lot of online users do not take the time to really read and understand the user agreements required by all social networks. As online media consumers, we are used to “clicking” a box and ignoring the text inside.

It’s becoming obvious that a lot of Canadians - and others - are signing over their privacy rights to these companies in exchange for access to increasingly popular social networks.

This is a choice Canadians can make, but we would hope that people would take a minute to think about their choices - and how much information they end up handing over to corporations, advertisers and marketing companies.

Case Summaries

• PIPEDA Case summary #2009-008: CIPPIC v. Facebook Inc.
  • Report of Findings
• Settled case summary #30: Impersonation, privacy settings and social networking sites

News Releases

• Facebook agrees to address Privacy Commissioner’s concerns
  August 27, 2009
  • Letter from OPC to CIPPIC outlining its resolution with Facebook
  • Audio recording at a Press Conference on the Facebook Investigation
• Facebook needs to improve privacy practices, investigation finds
  July 16, 2009
  • Backgrounder
  • Audio recording at a media briefing for the release of the Report of Findings with respect to Facebook

Speeches

• Privacy in the era of social networking: Legal obligations of social media sites
  Remarks at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law Lecture Series
  Address by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  November 22, 2010
• Enforcing Privacy in the Online World
  Remarks at the Lord Reading Law Society Dinner Meeting
  Address by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Montreal, Quebec
  November 10, 2010
• Why Privacy Still Matters in the Age of Google and Facebook and How Cooperation Can Get Us There
  Remarks at the 2010 Access and Privacy Conference
  Address by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Edmonton, Alberta
  June 10, 2010
• Privacy, Social Networking Sites, and the Canadian Approach: Protecting a Pluralistic Conception of Privacy Through Principle-Based Regulation
  Paper presented to ITechLaw 2010 World Technology Law Conference
  Daniel Caron, Legal Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Cambridge, Massachusetts
  May 20-21, 2010
• Work and Play in the Age of Social Networking
  Remarks at the IAPP Knowledgenet Conference
  Address by Elizabeth Denham, Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Calgary, Alberta
  May 12, 2010
• Privacy Professionals 2.0
  Remarks at the 2010 Conference of the Association sur l’accès et la protection de l’information (AAPI)
  Address by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Quebec, Quebec
  April 22, 2010
• Press Conference on the Facebook Investigation
  Ottawa, Ontario
  August 27, 2009
  • Remarks by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Remarks by Elizabeth Denham, Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada
• Report of Findings into the Complaint Filed by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) against Facebook Inc.
  Remarks at a Media Briefing
  Ottawa, Ontario
  July 16, 2009
  • Remarks by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Remarks by Elizabeth Denham, Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada
• Social Networking and the New Rules of the Road
  Remarks at the IAPP Canadian Privacy Summit
  Address by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Toronto, Ontario
  April 30, 2009
• Understanding Social Media Privacy Risks to Enterprises
  Remarks at the IAPP Canadian Privacy Summit
  Address by Louisa Garib, Legal Services, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs
  Toronto, Ontario
  April 30, 2009
• Privacy and the Social Networking Revolution
  Remarks to employees of the Bank of Canada
  Address by Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  Ottawa, Ontario
  September 9, 2008
• The Unique Challenges to Privacy Rights Posed by the Internet and Other Emerging Technologies
  Remarks at the Internet Law Conference, The Second Wave: New Developments, Challenges and Strategies
  Address by Address by Lisa Madelon Campbell and Daniel Caron, Legal Services, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Branch
  Toronto, Ontario
  March 27-28, 2008