OTTAWA – The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is coordinating a group of 19 agencies from around the world taking part this week in the first-ever international internet privacy sweep.
The sweep is an initiative of the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, which connects privacy enforcement authorities to promote and support cooperation in cross-border enforcement of laws protecting privacy.
During the week, participating authorities will dedicate individuals within their organization to search the Internet in a coordinated effort to assess privacy issues related to a common theme.
“Privacy issues have become global and they require a global response,” said Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart in a release. “It is critical that privacy enforcement authorities work together to help protect the privacy rights of people around the world.”
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is acting the international sweep’s inaugural coordinator. The initiative, which runs from May 6-12, 2013, includes authorities from Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Macao, Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States. Thee Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia is also taking part.
The theme selected for the first sweep is privacy practice transparency. “Transparency is one of the privacy basics; organizations need to be open and clear with people about how they collect, use and disclose personal information,” said Stoddart.
“Researchers have estimated it can take people up to 250 hours to read all of the privacy policies they encounter in a year. Long, legalistic privacy policies can be almost impossible to understand and navigate, therefore making it extremely difficult for individuals to make meaningful and informed decisions about protecting their privacy.”
Some of the criteria that the Internet Privacy Sweep will examine as it combs through hundreds of websites this week include:
- Does the site have a privacy policy?
- How difficult is it to find information about the site's privacy practices?
- Is contact information for addressing privacy questions and concerns readily available?
- How readable is the information about privacy practices?
The goals of the initiative include: increasing public and business awareness of privacy rights and responsibilities; encouraging compliance with privacy legislation; identifying concerns which may result in follow up actions such as targeted education and/or enforcement; and enhancing cooperation amongst privacy enforcement authorities.
