Category: privacy commissioner

ANALYSIS: Personal Information of Over 150,000 Canadians in Feds’ Possession Breached, With One Agency Accounting for 70%

Private information belonging to over 150,000 Canadians in possession of federal departments and agencies was breached over a one-year-plus period, with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) being the worst offender, new records analyzed by The Epoch Times show. The analysis is based on figures provided by the federal government in response to an Inquiry of…


ANALYSIS: Personal Information of Over 150,000 Canadians in Feds’ Possession Breached, With One Agency Accounting for 70% of Incidents

Private information belonging to over 150,000 Canadians in possession of federal departments and agencies was breached over a one-year-plus period, with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) being the worst offender, new records analyzed by The Epoch Times show. The analysis is based on figures provided by the federal government in response to an Inquiry of…


Privacy Commissioner Appeals Federal Court Decision in Facebook Case

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is appealing a recent decision by the Federal Court, which sided with Facebook in a case tied to the Cambridge Analytica affair. A judge in April dismissed the federal privacy watchdog’s bid for a declaration that the social media giant, now known as Meta, broke the law…


Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Launches Investigation Into Company Behind ChatGPT

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) says it has launched an investigation into OpenAI, the U.S.-based company that created the popular artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT. “AI technology and its effects on privacy is a priority for my Office,” Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said in an April 4 release. “We need to keep up…


‘We Want to See Privacy Considered’: Privacy Commissioner Suggests Bill C-11 Be Amended

Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said his office is recommending changes be made to the pending Bill C-11 to ensure that Canadians’ privacy will be protected in the collection of their data and content consumption, should the bill pass the Senate. “The implementation of the bill in a way that ensures that requested information is de-identified or…


ArriveCan: Federal Privacy Watchdog Investigating App’s Collection, Use of Personal Data

Following a recent complaint, an investigation is underway into the collection of personal data through the Liberal government’s ArriveCan app and the data’s subsequent usage, Canada’s federal privacy watchdog confirms.  “Our office has received and is currently investigating a complaint that raises concerns with respect to the collection of personal information through ArriveCAN and subsequent…


Feds Declined Offer From Privacy Commissioner for Advice on Collection of Phone Data

OTTAWA—The federal privacy commissioner says his offer to advise the government on the implications of collecting data from millions of mobile phones during the COVID-19 pandemic was rebuffed. Daniel Therrien told a House of Commons committee this week that he offered to review how the data was being anonymized, but the government consulted its own…


Conservatives Ask Privacy Czar to Probe Pandemic Related Use of Mobile Location Data

OTTAWA—A Conservative MP is asking Canada’s privacy commissioner to investigate federal reliance on data from mobile devices to understand travel patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien, Tory MP John Brassard accuses the Public Health Agency of Canada of secretly using the pandemic to violate the privacy of Canadians….


Federal Privacy Watchdog Warns of Growing Dangers of ‘Surveillance Capitalism’

OTTAWA—The federal privacy watchdog is warning Canadians about the growing threat of surveillance capitalism—the use of personal information by large corporations. In his annual report tabled Thursday in Parliament, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said state surveillance—a major concern after the 9/11 terrorist attacks—has been reined in somewhat in recent years. Meanwhile, personal data has emerged…


Feds Intend to Launch Facial Recognition System for Canadian Passport Holders: Report

Canada will set up a facial recognition system within the next two years that will include the faces of 25 million Canadian passport holders compiled into a database, according to a federal agency notice, despite little evidence of identity fraud in Canada. “The department must have facial recognition system support capabilities in place no later than…