Remarks delivered to the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies, October 30, 2009 by Chantal Bernier, Assistant Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Read moreDo your loved ones have toys on their wish lists this holiday? A stuffed animal for a little one… a cell phone or a camera for a teen? These days, these toys and gadgets are more than they used to be. Just a few years ago a stuffed animal was something to cuddle with and a phone was, well, just a phone! Now, many stuffed animals come with codes that allow kids to register them online so that they can play games, feed and care for them, and even chat and play with other kids. And many cellphones are phones, computers and cameras, all in one.
Read moreIt’s also the 20th anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Rights of the Child. A significant milestone, this made privacy a basic human right for everyone under the age of eighteen.
Read more(from our news release)
Read moreNow that Canada has officially entered the “second wave” of the H1N1 flu season, and the United States President has proclaimed the H1N1 pandemic to be a national emergency, Canadians are staring at the possibility of a significant flu outbreak. The sense of concern and urgency about how to respond to this situation presents interesting challenges for protecting the right to privacy.
Read moreEver wonder what information a government agency might hold about your traveling habits? Thanks to an anonymous U.S citizen, we can sneak a peek at a travel record held by the United States Department of Homeland Security. The scanned copies are posted on philosecurity, and include data like:
Read moreSpeaking at the Canadian Bar Association Conference earlier this week, the Privacy Commissioner talked about the privacy implications of courts and administrative tribunals posting to the web decisions and other documents containing personal information.
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The Privacy Act, the federal privacy law requiring federal government bodies to respect individual privacy rights, hasn’t been substantially updated since 1982 – the same year the Commodore 64 was released and we stopped calling July 1 Dominion Day. What’s interesting about these changes is they could be implemented immediately and relatively easily – and the benefit to Canadians would be a privacy law that is modern, responsive and efficient.
Read moreAs we close out 2007, we’d like to sound a note of caution for privacy rights in Canada. We are lucky to have a variety of protections for personal information and data at the territorial, provincial and federal levels. Nevertheless, the Commissioner took a moment last week to highlight some of the steps that need to be taken by individuals, corporations and the government in the face of continuing challenges:
Read moreParliament passed Canada’s public sector privacy law back in 1982 – the same year the Commodore 64 computer hit the market. At the time, both were considered pioneering.
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