I can’t believe this is going to be the last Digest of the year. 2018 definitely flew by in a hurry. Usually, in this space, I like to pontificate on what’s going to happen or how I think things are going to evolve going forward. However, seeing as this is the end of the calendar year, I thought it might be good to look back to reminisce on the year that was.

I’ve said this for other years, but 2018 was definitely the year of the breach. Not only did the PIPEDA amendments finally come into force, but a number of high-profile incidents from around the world made headlines over and over again. Did you happen to escape the year without receiving a data breach notification letter? My suspicion is that if you did not receive at least one notice this year that you’re in the minority.

Another headliner this year was the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica fiasco. It raised a number of issues, the least of which is how our personal information is being manipulated as part of the so-called democratic process. And while the voices calling for stronger protection and regulation were loud and clear, we saw virtually no movement by our government. Maybe we can optimistically look forward on that one (are you holding your breath?).

It seemed that this year also marked a number of developments outside of Canada. The GDPR came into effect, and the California Consumer Privacy Act was passed. There were other international developments, too, but those two probably had the biggest effect in Canada. Seeing as trans-border data flow issues are clearly not going to go away anytime soon, it will be interesting to see how Canada continues to react to data protection evolution outside our borders.

For me, the year was my busiest ever. From my client work to teaching at Ottawa U to working with the IAPP, there was never a moment of boredom. In fact, it proved to be an exciting and eventful year marked with interesting challenges. Mostly, I appreciated hearing from the many of you who took the time to write to me in response to something I said in this space. The privacy community is a good place.

Well, I’m off to buy some eggnog, but before I do, I’m sure to catch up with this last 2018 edition of the Digest. Hope you do, too.

Happy holidays everyone!