Protecting Canadians’ Privacy
On “Strictly Legal”, November 1, 2007, my guest was Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner. Dr. Cavoukian is a leading privacy expert and has been Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner since 1997. She has won numerous awards and authored some groundbreaking books on privacy.
We started our discussion with consideration of my suggestion that Canadians have a bit of a “blind spot” when it comes to protecting their privacy. We really take for granted the good motives, and even good faith, of people that we share a lot of information with. Little do we know that there are crooks, and even commercial enterprises, who are more than happy to exploit our privacy for their own benefit.
The book that I gave away at the opening of the program was hot off the presses. The book is called “Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy.” It is written by David H. Holtzman and, as I mentioned on air, just a few chapters of reading that book will scare the pants off anyone who has taken their own privacy for granted. I highly recommend it. It is a U.S. publication and considers some of the nightmare scenarios that have occurred in the United States, but there is not one piece of information in it that should not be heeded as a warning for what is going on in Canada, and will be going on in Canada in the very near future.
Dr. Cavoukian and I reviewed the Ontario Legislation that is designed to protect the freedom of information and protection of our privacy. This law applies to Ontario’s Provincial Ministries and most of the Provincial Agencies, Boards and Commissions. It also applies to community colleges, universities and local health integration networks.
The main idea is that the government is required to protect the privacy of an individual’s personal information, as it exists in government records. It also gives individuals the right to request access to government information, including general records and records containing their own personal information.
For very detailed and useful information about the way in which the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is intended to work, I recommend that you visit the website of the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. There are downloadable pamphlets that set out the entire privacy complaint process and the way in which the laws work, both with respect to the provincial government and municipal government in Ontario.
The good news is that while Dr. Cavoukian and I were focusing on the Ontario law, there are equivalent laws in each of the Canadian provinces. The way in which the laws are implemented may be a little different in that, for example, not every province has a Commissioner. Sometimes, other legislative Officers are responsible for enforcing the privacy laws and the protection of the freedom of information laws, but the function exists in each province.
There is a worldwide effort afoot to protect the privacy of citizens. Usually, it is a horrifying example of identity theft that prompts Canadians to run to the local store and buy paper shredders. By then, of course, it is too late. Each family, and each individual, needs to develop a different mentality in their approach to protection of individual privacy. The “blind spot” needs to be removed and replaced with a much more cynical vantage point on people who would prey on our privacy.
In “LawyerSpeak” on November 1, 2007, I set out a three-part definition of what privacy can mean. The definition that I selected was from David Holtzman’s book “Privacy Lost: How Technology is Endangering Your Privacy” and, in concluding this blog, I would leave this definition with you for consideration.
“Privacy includes, (1) Seclusion – the right to be hidden from perceptions of others, (2) Solitude – the right to be left alone and (3) Self-Determination – the right to control information about oneself.
Words to consider as you remove your privacy “blind spot.”
Michael G. Cochrane, B.A., LL.B
Leave a Reply