Two things are top of mind this week.

First, it’s important that all privacy pros in Canada pay attention to the proposed regulations issued by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, which are needed before the data breach regiment being proclaimed into force in Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. I suspect there will be a short ramp-up time once the regulations are passed. It’s also important to pay attention now because, if you want to add to the debate, your window of opportunity to provide comments is quickly closing. You only have until Oct. 2 to have your voice heard. So, when you think about it, as someone with responsibility for privacy within your organization, it is only a matter of time before you have to deal with breach notification. Now is the time to get informed, have a say, and start getting ready.

Second, I, along with others, appeared before the ETHI Parliamentary Committee this week to speak about privacy at the border and, in particular, what privacy rights Canadians have while traveling in the United States. If you recall, I mentioned this a few months ago in the Digest the first time these issues caught the attention of the politicians who sit on the committee. They took the summer off and then this week they approached the subject with some vigor. One of the panelists with me was Michael Geist, and he suggested that the Canadian government take the opportunity of the NAFTA negotiations to secure privacy rights of Canadians who cross into the States. I emphasized the need to get our own privacy regime into shape — starting with more meaningful oversight and real, substantive reforms to our privacy laws.

Plenty of other news this week, too: Hope you have the time to catch up and maybe notice that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada won an award — jointly — on the international stage for their investigation into the Ashley Madison breach and that Ontario won an award on that same stage for their de-identification guidance. Our old friend Elizabeth Denham, now head of the U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office, won the people's choice award.

I think this all makes clear that Canadian privacy pros rock.