In an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, University of Ottawa Canada Research Chair for Internet and E-Commerce Law Michael Geist writes about the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's decision to explore privacy law reform related to cross-border data transfers. Geist writes that Canada is moving away from an “accountability principle” relating to safeguards for transfers to third parties outside Canada while placing more emphasis on consent for trans-border data flows. Geist argues the shift and subsequent exploration into reform is overdue. “The absence of meaningful updates to Canadian privacy law for many years has led to another exceptionally aggressive interpretation of the law by the OPC, effectively seeking to update the law through interpretation rather than actual legislative reform,” Geist said.
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