Newsletter
Privacy Preoccupations
Denis Phillion, Receptionist
How do you contribute to the promotion and protection of privacy in Canada?
I’m the receptionist here at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and, to be honest, it fits perfectly with my Type A personality.
As the receptionist, I make my contribution mostly in support roles and I take those responsibilities very seriously. For instance, I get to work early, which means I’m the first person most employees and visitors see when they arrive. I take extra care to make sure they’re at ease after they walk through the door, regardless of the kind of day they may be having.
This is a tight-knit and hardworking team, and I contribute elsewhere when I can. For instance, I often take on a triage role when members of the public call in with concerns. I confirm that a caller’s concern is related to privacy and, if it is, I pass the matter on to the appropriate inquiries officer.
Occasionally, I get out of the office as well, such as when I was invited to participate in a presentation that was part of the My Privacy and Me national video competition. I was asked to attend because of my background. In my previous career, I spent 34 years teaching children and I’m still deeply concerned about youth privacy issues, which makes this job particularly interesting.
What privacy issue keeps you up at night?
Because of my teaching background, I’m most concerned about youth privacy. Although Facebook and MySpace were not in use during my career, kids faced all kinds of challenges online. For example, the middle school kids I was teaching would often find inappropriate pages by accident on their searches.
Since then, the issues have become even more serious, with kids posting pictures of themselves online and revealing their personal information, not knowing that the consequences can be serious for their privacy.
I’m proud that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has such an active youth outreach program—especially our school presentation program, which teaches kids how to behave appropriately online so that their personal information is protected.