Canada celebrates Privacy Awareness Week by helping businesses improve privacy practices

Ottawa, August 27, 2008 —The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) today launched a new tool to help businesses evaluate their privacy practices and compliance with Canada’s private sector privacy law. The launch of the tool coincides with Privacy Awareness Week, which is organized by the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (APPA) and runs from August 24 to 30.

The OPC’s new Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act (PIPEDA) Self-Assessment Tool is made up of two parts:

• A compliance guide, which informs organizations of their obligations under PIPEDA and outlines what organizations must do to meet these obligations; and
• A diagnostic tool, which gives organizations a series of checklists they can use to assess how compliant they are with the 10 Fair Information Principles of PIPEDA.

With the results of this self-assessment, organizations will be able determine the weaknesses in their privacy systems and understand the risks they pose for the business and customers. It will also help them ensure they dedicate the appropriate resources to ensuring privacy compliance.

“Good privacy practices are good for business,” says Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart. “More and more, organizations are realizing this, and by giving them an efficient and effective means of evaluating and improving their privacy practices, they can develop a competitive advantage.”

The theme for this year’s Privacy Awareness Week is “Privacy is your business”. During the week, participating countries, such as Canada, which is a member of APPA, can promote privacy responsibilities within the public and private sectors, and raise awareness of the public's privacy rights.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recently launched two initiatives aimed at engaging Canadian youth in the privacy debate: an essay competition designed to encourage students in law schools and legal studies programs across Canada to explore privacy issues and a video public service announcement competition for students between the ages of 12 and 18. Information about these initiatives and the new PIPEDA Self-Assessment Tool, as well as other tools to help organizations comply with privacy law, such as a guide for businesses and organizations, an e-learning tool for retailers, fact sheets and a number of new case summaries, can be found at www.priv.gc.ca.

For more information on Privacy Awareness Week, visit www.privacyawarenessweek.org.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is mandated by Parliament to act as an ombudsman, advocate and guardian of privacy rights in Canada.

To view the tool:

• PIPEDA Self-Assessment Tool (Printable Adobe Format)

For more information and/or media interview requests, contact:

Heather Ormerod
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Tel: (613) 995-1048
Email: hormerod@priv.gc.ca