OTTAWA – Canadians need the right to ask search engines to de-index web pages that contain inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information in order to help protect their online reputation, says Canada’s Privacy Commissioner.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released a draft Position on Online Reputation in an effort to highlight existing protections in Canada's federal private sector privacy law, identify potential legislative changes, and propose other solutions for consideration.
The report notes that current federal private sector privacy law provides for a right to de-indexing – which removes links from search results without deleting the content itself – under certain circumstances and upon request. But Canadians should also be permitted to easily delete information they've posted about themselves on a commercial forum, like a social media site. In cases where others have posted information about an individual, they have a right to challenge and seek amendment to demonstrably illegal, inaccurate, incomplete and out of date information, the report continues.
However, all of these considerations need to be balanced with other important values, such as freedom of expression and public interest.
Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said that Canadians have expressed concerns over these “reputational risks”, adding that the objective is to “create an environment where people can use the Internet to explore and develop without fear their digital traces will lead to unfair treatment."
"There is little more precious than our reputation”, said Therrien in the report’s news release. “But protecting reputation is increasingly difficult in the digital age, where so much about us is systematically indexed, accessed and shared with just a few keystrokes. Online information about us can easily be distorted or taken out of context and it is often extremely difficult to remove."
For their part, search engines and websites have an obligation to assess requests from individuals for information to be de-indexed or taken down and are generally equipped to do so through existing customer complaints channels. If a matter cannot be resolved, individuals have a right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
"While it's important to take action on de-indexing, we are also recommending that Parliament undertake a study of this issue. Elected officials should confirm the right balance between privacy and freedom of expression in our democratic society," continued Therrien.
The report also emphasizes the importance of privacy education, and the OPC has sent a joint letter to the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education calling for privacy protection to be incorporated into curriculum for digital education across the country.
The OPC added that it will consult with stakeholders on the proposals in its draft position paper before finalizing its position and developing an action plan to put the new measures into practice.
