GATINEAU – The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has opened a formal investigation in response to recent media reports over the unauthorized access and use of Facebook user profiles.
Commissioner Daniel Therrien confirmed that the investigation was opened in response to a complaint against Facebook in relation to allegations involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica that has been linked to the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Therrien said that the first step of the investigation will be to confirm with the company whether the personal information of Facebook users in Canada was affected.
Specifically, the investigation will examine Facebook's compliance with Canada's federal private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). However, due to confidentiality provisions under PIPEDA, no further details regarding the investigation were made available.
Generally speaking, PIPEDA requires meaningful and informed consent for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of commercial activities. Under the law, companies are also accountable for how they manage and safeguard the personal information in their care and must ensure that it is not disclosed inappropriately.
"The allegations we've seen in media reports raise extremely important privacy questions”, said Therrien, in a statement. “The digital world, and social media in particular, have become entrenched in our daily lives and people want their rights to be respected."
The UK Information Commissioner's Office has an ongoing related investigation and Therrien said that the OPC will remain in contact with the UK office and work with other data protection authorities as appropriate.
Noting that neither PIPEDA nor Canada's federal public sector privacy law, the Privacy Act, applies to political parties, Therrien reiterated an earlier call that the government should broaden the laws “to address the shortcomings in Canada's privacy regime”.
"If true, the allegations raise a major challenge for privacy rights”, he added. “We have recommended strengthening Canada's private sector law in order to help strengthen consumer trust. I welcome the support of a Parliamentary committee that recently reviewed PIPEDA.”
