A pair of notable privacy developments has recently broken in Canada. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada placed " for its 2017 data breach, while the agency also
The panelists covered a lot of ground as they spoke in front of an inquisitive crowd of privacy professionals, but regardless of where the discussion went, the work of Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien remained a constant theme throughout the evening. Therrien Meaningful Consent Guidelines.
While PIPEDA and consent talk filled up a good portion of the evening, discussion about Canadian privacy rules would not be complete without Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation.
Brown cited an instance when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission penalized Datablocks and Sunlight Media for CASL violations. The two companies were fined a combined $250,000 for “allegedly aiding in the installation of malicious computer programs … through the distribution of online advertising.”
The bad actors injected malicious links into ads that sent victims to malware-infused sites; however, Brown noted that these parties were several steps removed from Datablocks and Sunlight. Despite the degrees of separation, the CRTC determined the two organizations did not do enough to stop the attacks from occurring.
Brown felt the ruling set a bad precedent.
“[The CRTC] have taken this hard-line approach,” Brown said. “This is concerning. It looks like to me that they are going to take the easy way out. They are going after companies with any sort of capital and saying, ‘We are going to fine you because going after the people who are really doing this is really hard.’ They are saying, ‘You are going to do our job for us and stop these bad actors yourselves.’”
Kosmala wrapped up the evening by asking the panel whether Canada will drift more toward a privacy model that mirrors the European Union or if it will find a solution that is “authentically Canadian.” Banks believes “it’s going to be a long time before we see legislative changes,” but notes that public sentiment may sway Canada toward the EU, even if the country’s laws are not altered.
Canada has become increasingly resistant to free-flowing borders, and part of the hesitation comes from the perceived way the U.S. uses data, which is why the