Commissioner receives OBA Karen Spector Memorial Award for Excellence in Privacy Law

Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has been honored by the

(OBA) with its Karen Spector Memorial Award for Excellence in Privacy Law, which was established to recognize, honor and celebrate the outstanding achievements of OBA members working in the privacy field.

In announcing the selection of Stoddart, who received the prestigious award at a dinner ceremony in Toronto on October 18, the OBA noted, “While there was no shortage of exceptional members of the bar worthy of this award, it was unanimously agreed that the accomplishments of Jennifer Stoddart as Canada’s privacy commissioner made her the obvious choice to be recognized this year.”

Stoddart, who is completing her seven-year term as Canada’s privacy commissioner, was selected for her role in establishing the OPC as a leading regulator on privacy issues, and the OBA praised her work on such issues as youth online privacy, cross-border data protection and coordinated global privacy enforcement. The association also praised Stoddart’s efforts to create a contributions program for not-for-profit organizations and consumer groups to advance privacy and data protection research, policy and education and her leadership in what the OBA described as an “unprecedented collaboration involving 10 data protection authorities on four continents who issued a joint statement regarding the respect of privacy laws by technology companies launching new products.”

OBA Privacy Law Section Chair Laura Davison presented the award to Stoddart at the October event, which was also attended by past recipients Priscilla Platt, Mary O’Donoghue and Jeffrey Kaufman.

In announcing Stoddart as the recipient of the 2010 award, Davison noted that while recipients need meet only one award criteria, Stoddart actually met all five categories of legal contributions to the practice of privacy law; contributions to the development of privacy law through writing or public speaking; organizational contributions; outstanding mentorship, and other exemplary achievements.

“In Commissioner Stoddart’s case, there are many,” Davison said, describing Stoddart as “an outstanding and more-than-worthy recipient of the OBA’s Karen Spector Memorial Award for Excellence in Privacy Law.”