FC: Canada's online privacy law takes effect

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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"With Nod to Europe, Canada Tightens Data Privacy"
Christian Science Monitor (01/10/01) P. 11; Walker, Ruth

The Canadian government has taken a cue from the European Union
(EU) by passing an online privacy law that went into effect Jan.
1.  According to the directive, parties that collect personal
consumer information online must identify themselves--to the
consumer, among others--and explain why the data is being
gathered and how it will be used.  The law currently applies to
federally regulated companies, but will expand by 2004 to include
all companies that collect personal data for commercial purposes.
The EU's edict prohibits its members from exporting data to
countries that lack appropriate privacy measures.  The Canadian
law is aimed to satisfy the EU's privacy concerns while remaining
flexible, somewhere between the U.S. policy of industry
regulation and the EU policy of government regulation, says
Heather Black, legal adviser to the federal privacy commissioner
in Ottawa.  The law takes a middle-ground approach to privacy
issues in order to "set some good examples and show that there is
some role for government," according to Michael Geist of the
University of Ottawa.  Unlike the EU directive, the Canadian law
allows companies to gather information on individuals without
their explicit consent.  The government ministry of Industry
Canada hopes the law will strengthen consumer confidence in
e-commerce.

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> From: Sonia Arrison <sarrison () pacificresearch org>
> To: "'canucks () canadiansintheus com'" <canucks () canadiansintheus com>
> Subject: CANUCKS: Canadian Privacy Law May Affect US Firms
> Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 19:55:10 -0800
> X-URL: Canucks is at http://www.canadiansintheus.com/
>
> Happy Holidays to everyone!  There's just a few more days left in the
> millennium, which means that Bill C-6, Canada's new sweeping privacy law, is
> about to go into effect.  It's a law that appears to have some major
> implications not only for Canadian firms, but for US businesses too.  US
> firms that do business in Canada will have to abide by the new rules.
>
> I've taken a cursory look at the Bill, and it seems to me that one of its
> flaws is that it requires every business to create a new CPO-type position
> (Chief Privacy Officer).  This might be fine for the Bell Canada's and IBMs
> of the nation, but how are smaller companies going to cope?  And since when
> do Canadians think it's ok for the government to decide on the job
> descriptions of business's employees?  Privacy is an important issue, but
> the rush to draw up laws seems to have resulted in some poor outcomes.
>
> Some background:
>
> http://www.computerworld.com/cwi/story/0,1199,NAV47_STO54674,00.html?OpenDoc
> ument&~f
>
> http://www.canada.com/cgi-bin/printer.asp?f=/news/cp/stories/20001228/nation
> al-699025.html
>
> http://www.cluebot.com/articles/00/10/06/1737248.shtml
>
>
> -Sonia

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> From: Sonia Arrison <sarrison () pacificresearch org>
> To: "'canucks () canadiansintheus com'" <canucks () canadiansintheus com>
> Subject: CANUCKS: Perilous Privacy Protections for Canadians
> Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 14:48:15 -0800
> X-URL: Canucks is at http://www.canadiansintheus.com/
>
> Canada's new privacy law went into effect Jan 1, 2001.  The National Post
> wrote an editorial saying that the law is a step in the right direction, but
> that it doesn't go far enough because it doesn't apply to government
> agencies.  Seems to me that the law is a step in exactly the *wrong*
> direction precisely because it exempts the government.
>
> Unlike governments, businesses have incentives to put privacy practices in
> place: they don't want to lose business.  Also, to avoid business's prying
> eyes, individuals can use technologies like Anonymizer.com or Zero
> Knowledge's Freedom Software.  These types of protections are far superior
> to government rules that are useless at best, costly and annoying at worst.
> But when it comes to avoiding government's gaze, there is no choice.
>
> If the government wants your data, you must comply and hope that they won't
> abuse it or lose it.  That makes government security and data collection
> practices the most pressing privacy issues facing Canadians, Americans, and
> others around the globe.  Considering historical government abuses of data
> around the world, you'd think advocates would be all over this.
>
> The Post's editorial:
>
> http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20010102/422932.htm
> l
>
> Official guide to the new Act:
>
> http://www.privcom.gc.ca/english/02_06_06_e.htm
[...]

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