OTTAWA – Stressing that Canadians’ right to privacy is not at odds with digital innovation, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner called for tougher privacy laws and stronger enforcement powers.
In a November 23 letter to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains made public Wednesday, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien emphasized that “individual privacy is not a right we simply trade away for innovation, efficiency or commercial gain.”
“The Government rightly points out that Canadians must have trust and confidence that their data and privacy will be protected”, reads the letter. “However, I strongly believe that the trust needed to allow the digital economy to flourish, and the social license the government will need from Canadians to innovate with their personal data, hinges on having an appropriate legal framework in place. Yet, when it comes to effecting real legislative change in this context, the Government has been slow to act, putting at continued risk the trust Canadians have in the digital economy and confidence that our Canadian values will be preserved.”
Therrien added that a modernized law should empower a public authority like the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to issue binding guidance or rules to clarify how general principles and broadly framed rights, such as consent, are to apply in practice. This would change the Privacy Commissioner's role from ombudsman to regulator.
