TAGGED AS DANIEL THERRIEN
Privacy Commish launching investigation into proof of vaccination requirements for federal workers
telecom | 10/22/2021 6:03 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will be investigating if the standardized Canadian COVID-19 proof of vaccination violates privacy principles after getting complaints...
RCMP looking to expand its digital policing services
telecom | 09/22/2021 6:37 pm EDT
The RCMP is seeking to expand its digital policing services, months after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) found that it violated the law by using mass surveillance technology.
The RCMP intends to award two contracts -- each for three years plus two one-year...
New privacy law gives ‘more weight’ to commercial interests; needs ‘significant changes’: OPC
telecom | 05/11/2021 6:22 pm EDT
Following an analysis of Bill C-11, the federal...
Privacy Commish wants power to triage complaints and requests
Media | 05/10/2021 6:42 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner needs to be able to decide what to...
Privacy Commissioner calls for OPC to have jurisdiction over PMO, ministerial offices
telecom | 02/24/2021 4:27 pm EST
Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien is calling for the Office of the Privacy Commission (OPC) to have its jurisdiction extended to cover the Office of the Prime Minister and other federal ministerial offices. Therrien raised the proposal in a submission filed Tuesday as part of a statutory...
OPC finds Desjardins too passive about data protection prior to 2019 breach
telecom | 12/14/2020 2:48 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has released its report into a major data breach at the Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec, which affected around 9.7 million individuals and...
Gov’t tables PIPEDA reform, new consumer privacy legislation
Media | 11/17/2020 5:54 pm EST
The federal government introduced sweeping private-sector privacy law reform Tuesday, giving the privacy commissioner long-asked for order-making powers and creating new legislation and a new administrative tribunal to govern online privacy.
Bill C-11, the Digital Charter...
Facial recognition in malls violated privacy, commissioners say
telecom | 10/29/2020 5:58 pm EDT
An investigation into the use of facial recognition technology to analyze age and gender of customers in shopping malls owned by Cadillac Fairview concluded that it violated Canadian privacy law, the...
Proposed Quebec privacy law overhaul ‘concerning’: Bell lawyer
Media | 10/20/2020 6:17 pm EDT
Speaking Tuesday morning at an online event, Bell assistant general counsel...
Commish ‘frustrated for Canadian citizens’ as privacy laws lag
telecom | 10/08/2020 5:53 pm EDT
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened privacy concerns around activities...
Google not shielded by journalistic protections, OPC tells court
Media | 09/11/2020 1:57 pm EDT
Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien has urged Federal Court to find the...
OPC happy with tracing app, but not with privacy law
telecom | 08/28/2020 5:00 pm EDT
In a letter to shadow ministers, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien assures opposition MPs that the...
Pandemic has increased need for privacy rights, OPC told Guilbealt
Media | 06/30/2020 5:08 pm EDT
COVID-19 has made privacy rights even more important, the federal privacy commissioner’s office told Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in May. A presentation prepared by the Office of the...
Privacy commissioner hasn’t approved new gov’t contact tracing app
telecom | 06/18/2020 3:48 pm EDT
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that in developing the federal...
Gov’t launches AI centre in Montreal
Media | 06/15/2020 3:14 pm EDT
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development announced on Monday the launch of what it is calling the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), as well as a research centre to be based in Monteal in cooperation with...
Outdated privacy laws may hamper COVID-19 tracing: Therrien
telecom | 05/29/2020 7:00 pm EDT
The outdated state of Canadian privacy laws may harm efforts to launch a contact tracing app intended to combat the spread of COVID-19, as privacy concerns might make Canadians hesitant to use the apps, the country's top privacy watchdog told the House industry committee on...
Facebook targets procedural fairness at OPC in court filing
Media | 04/27/2020 5:16 pm EDT
Facebook Inc.'s request that Federal Court throw out a report from the...
OPC investigating RCMP over facial recognition
telecom | 02/28/2020 5:14 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner today announced it is launching an investigation into the use of...
Privacy commish launches AI consultation
telecom | 01/28/2020 5:55 pm EST
OTTAWA — Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien is adding artificial intelligence (AI) to his...
Canadian law should codify privacy as a human right: OPC
Media | 12/10/2019 6:05 pm EST
OTTAWA — Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told reporters...
AIQ investigation shows need for strong privacy laws, OPC says
Media | 11/26/2019 6:22 pm EST
At a Vancouver press conference Tuesday, the federal and British Columbia privacy commissioners presented the results of their investigation into AggregateIQ (AIQ) as an example of how investigations into companies can go — correctly — when commissioners have proper...
Privacy group wants to help OPC form future guidelines
telecom | 06/10/2019 2:34 pm EDT
A new group made up of businesses and industry associations wants to help...
International legislators flag regulatory options for data giants
Media | 05/29/2019 6:01 pm EDT
OTTAWA - Legislators on Tuesday gave some sense of what regulatory options...
ISED ‘digital charter’ recommends enhancing OPC powers
Media | 05/21/2019 8:30 pm EDT
Innovation Canada is recommending that the privacy commissioner be vested...
Experts say there is no road map for a Facebook-OPC court fight
Media | 05/01/2019 4:17 pm EDT
If the Office of the Privacy Commissioner takes Facebook Inc. to Federal...
OPC will ask court to force changes to Facebook privacy practices
Media | 04/25/2019 5:47 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Thursday it is...
OPC to monitor Equifax for six years
telecom | 04/09/2019 5:12 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Tuesday that it has concluded its investigation into the...
OPC welcomes ‘interim relief’ from budget pressures
Media | 03/20/2019 5:43 pm EDT
The 2019 federal budget is boosting funding to the office of the privacy...
OPC’s deindexing position ‘indirect attack’ on CBC, lawyer says
Media | 02/11/2019 6:33 pm EST
OTTAWA — A lawyer for CBC/Radio-Canada who is asking the Federal Court to...
Most Canadians support ‘right to be forgotten’: poll
telecom | 01/07/2019 3:01 pm EST
Canadians appear to be generally in favour of the ‘right to be forgotten’, with most showing support for the idea and a majority saying they would support having it set out in Canadian law, according to a poll released Monday by the Angus Reid Institute. Half of Canadians said they believe people should have the right to have certain information about themselves removed from search results, while a quarter oppose the idea and another quarter have yet to make up their minds. Just slightly more than half -- 56 per cent of respondents -- said they would support legislation to put a...
OPC to Bains: privacy rights not ‘at odds’ with innovation
telecom | 12/05/2018 2:01 pm EST
The federal privacy watchdog is warning the Liberal government against...
OPC on global working group addressing AI challenges
Media | 11/21/2018 4:17 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner and its counterpart in Quebec are party to a “permanent working...
Privacy commish ‘surprised’ by political ‘chill’ comments
telecom | 11/01/2018 4:28 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada’s privacy commissioner said Thursday that comments...
PIPEDA could put a ‘chill’ on political volunteers: Liberal counsel
telecom | 10/30/2018 4:57 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The consequences of bringing the country’s political parties...
OPC asks for more flexibility on info sharing with CRTC
telecom | 10/16/2018 4:38 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada’s federal privacy watchdog asked a Senate committee Tuesday to increase his office’s information sharing abilities with the CRTC and Competition Bureau when consumer protection and privacy issues intersect.
Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told...
OPC to seek court reference on search engine delisting
telecom | 09/27/2018 5:39 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien says he plans to...
Canadian privacy watchdogs urge privacy laws for political parties
Media | 09/17/2018 2:01 pm EDT
Canada's federal, provincial and territorial privacy watchdogs collectively...
OPC to look into face-scanning mall kiosks
telecom | 08/07/2018 2:27 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) will join Alberta’s provincial privacy watchdog...
Balsillie’s Centre for Digital Rights meets with OPC
telecom | 06/21/2018 4:00 pm EDT
A newly-minted data rights group spearheaded by former BlackBerry Ltd. co-CEO Jim Balsillie met with privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien in late May, according to the federal lobbying registry....
Ethics committee wants political parties to come under privacy legislation
Media | 06/19/2018 1:20 pm EDT
Following nine public meetings that began in March, the House committee...
OPC says 90% budget increase would give it ‘true impact’
Media | 06/07/2018 3:55 pm EDT
The Office of The Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has asked the government for a...
Data collection, consent guidelines published by the OPC
Media | 05/24/2018 5:29 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has unveiled a set...
Privacy commish flags ‘flaw’ in new elections bill
Media | 05/01/2018 2:42 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Proposed legislation that will require federal political parties...
Privacy heads ask for data protection in smart cities challenge
Media | 04/27/2018 5:13 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) is asking the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities to consider how privacy protocols were implemented when selecting smart cities challenge winners. “We strongly encourage you to require that the finalists commit to the preparation of privacy impact and threat risk assessments at the design stage and also commit to applying any resulting recommendations at the implementation stage,” said the joint letter, dated Tuesday and co-signed by privacy commissioners across the country. The federal government launched the smart cities...
Don’t allow social media data use by political parties: professor
Media | 04/27/2018 4:11 pm EDT
OTTAWA — There is no reason for political parties to be using social...
Facebook data leak could affect Canadian elections: Therrien
Media | 04/17/2018 5:03 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada’s privacy commissioner told the House of Commons ethics...
More emphasis on transparency needed in PIPEDA: professor
telecom | 03/09/2018 4:52 pm EST
OTTAWA — Any amendments to Canada’s privacy law for the private sector...
OPC says it’s ‘at a loss’ over exclusion from CSE oversight
Media | 03/08/2018 3:41 pm EST
The privacy commissioner is calling for his office to be included in Bill...
House ethics committee backs right to be forgotten in Canada
Media | 03/01/2018 5:23 pm EST
The government should consider including frameworks for a right to erasure and a right to de-indexing in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the House of Commons ethics committee is recommending in a new report.
“The Committee...
As programmatic ads grow, GDPR could pose a problem: expert
telecom | 01/04/2018 6:16 pm EST
Automatic, data-based advertising has grown significantly over the years...
House committee backs stricter border device search rules
telecom | 12/15/2017 4:06 pm EST
A parliamentary ethics committee is recommending the government enact into...
CSE activities under C-59 may weaken encryption tools: CCLA
telecom | 12/07/2017 5:24 pm EST
OTTAWA — Parliamentarians debating Bill C-59 will have to come to grips...
Lack of incentive undermines privacy protection tech: OPC
Media | 11/15/2017 6:55 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has released an analysis of privacy enhancing technologies (PETs), but cautions that there are still challenges for the adoption of practises...
Resources ‘already stretched’ as breach reports set to increase: OPC
telecom | 11/03/2017 12:45 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien does not think...
Bring border privacy issues under NAFTA: Geist
telecom | 10/02/2017 3:23 pm EDT
Because some aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) raise privacy concerns, the...
Privacy commish vows more ‘proactive enforcement’
telecom | 09/21/2017 6:00 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) will not wait for the government to give it...
Limit info on smartphones at U.S. border: privacy commish
telecom | 09/19/2017 3:22 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canadians should be exercising a fair amount of caution when...
U.S. gov’t sued over warrantless device searches at border
telecom | 09/13/2017 4:02 pm EDT
American civil liberties groups are suing the U.S. federal government over warrantless searches of travellers’ personal devices at the border. In a press release, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that it, alongside the Electronic Frontier Foundation and its Massachusetts branch, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 11 plaintiffs — 10 U.S. citizens and one permanent resident — who have had smartphones and laptops searched, and in some cases held, when re-entering the country. The release noted that none of the plaintiffs were...
Transparency reporting in Canada: still opaque?
telecom | 07/31/2017 4:15 pm EDT
Without an Edward Snowden-like scandal, exposing inappropriate government access of citizens’ personal...
Ian Scott ‘collegial’ choice for new CRTC chair: former colleagues
Media | 07/18/2017 11:49 am EDT
The choice of Ian Scott as the new chairman of the CRTC was greeted...
Civil liberties groups back privacy commish on device searches
telecom | 06/16/2017 4:10 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Grouping electronic devices with other goods when it comes to...
Privacy commish suggests ‘partial solution’ for border device searches
telecom | 06/13/2017 5:36 pm EDT
Canada’s privacy commissioner is asking the House of Commons committee on public safety and national security to amend a proposed law that governs border searches and is recommending a way that it...
Privacy commish issues guidance on device searches at border
telecom | 05/29/2017 5:40 pm EDT
The search of personal electronic devices when crossing the Canada-U.S. border is an “extremely privacy intrusive procedure,” Daniel Therrien, the federal privacy commissioner, has told the House of Commons committee on public safety and national security. Therrien made his remarks in a letter to committee chair MP Robert Oliphant dated May 24 and published on the commissioner’s website Monday. In the letter, Therrien said his “immediate concern stems from recent announcements by the US administration that they intend to search at their discretion and without legal grounds other...
CWTA predicts ‘adversarial’ relationship if OPC power boosted
telecom | 05/11/2017 8:26 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Canada’s privacy commissioner should not be vested with order-making and fining power because doing so would harm the collaborative...
Privacy commish funding work on rules for connected cars
Media | 03/28/2017 8:29 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The federal privacy commissioner will be working with stakeholders to develop a “code of practice” to help address privacy concerns around connected and autonomous vehicles,...
Privacy commish asks Canadian gov’t to push for U.S. privacy protection
telecom | 03/10/2017 8:54 pm EST
The federal privacy watchdog is asking the government to petition its counterparts in the United States to include Canada in a list of countries whose citizens are afforded protection for their...
Larger fines needed to deter privacy breaches: B.C. privacy commish
Media | 02/22/2017 8:14 pm EST
OTTAWA — Fines levied against companies who breach privacy rules in Canada need to be increased to help prevent breaches in the future and to come in line with European Union data...
Privacy watchdog asks MPs for more power
Media | 02/17/2017 12:11 am EST
OTTAWA — Canadians expect the federal privacy commissioner to be able to make orders and levy fines against companies that break privacy rules, Daniel Therrien told members of Parliament studying the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) Thursday, noting that the current inability to do so erodes trust in a...
‘Proceed cautiously’ in expanding lawful access: privacy commissioners
Media | 12/06/2016 10:57 pm EST
OTTAWA — The federal government hasn’t made its case for why law enforcement and intelligence agencies need stronger powers to intercept, decrypt and share citizens’ information, the...
Privacy commish looking for transparency compliance ‘in coming months’
telecom | 09/27/2016 6:26 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Companies who are not already proactively complying with the federal government’s transparency reporting rules are running out of time before the Office of the Privacy...
Lessons to be learned from Ashley Madison breach: privacy commish
Media | 08/23/2016 8:50 pm EDT
The company behind Ashley Madison, a website aimed at adulterous interactions that suffered a massive customer data breach last year, had “inadequate security safeguards and policies,”...
Password disclosure law up for ‘public discussion’: Goodale
telecom | 08/17/2016 9:31 pm EDT
OTTAWA — The federal minister of public safety indicated Wednesday a willingness to engage with a freshly passed resolution from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) calling for a law to compel people to hand over passwords to devices seized under a search warrant. The CACP passed the resolution urging the government “to identify a legislative means for public safety agencies inclusive of law enforcement, through judicial authorization, to compel the holder of an encryption key or password to reveal it to law enforcement” on Tuesday as one of four adopted by...
Privacy commish warns telecoms about transparency reporting, metadata
telecom | 06/09/2016 12:42 am EDT
TORONTO — Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told a telecom industry audience Wednesday that companies should be prudent about the collection and use of metadata, and cautioned companies that...
Privacy sweep to examine IoT, health devices
telecom | 04/11/2016 5:06 pm EDT
Health devices will take the spotlight when Canada’s privacy commissioner participates in this week’s global examination of the Internet of Things (IoT). The Global Privacy Enforcement Network’s 2016 privacy...
iPhone encryption issue one to watch: privacy commissioner
telecom | 02/23/2016 11:24 pm EST
OTTAWA — Canadians should be keeping an eye on the FBI's request to gain access to an iPhone connected to the Dec. 2 San Bernadino, Calif., attack, according to Canada's...
Privacy commish launches online tool for parents
telecom | 01/27/2016 5:51 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said Wednesday it has launched an interactive online tool aimed at helping parents manage online risks facing their children, to coincide with Data Privacy Day, which takes place...
Parliament should uphold court decision on warrantless access: Therrien
Media | 01/25/2016 10:12 pm EST
The privacy commissioner of Canada is asking Parliament to confirm the principles behind a Supreme Court decision that requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant in order to obtain customers’ personal information from Internet service providers (ISPs). In an opinion article in the Toronto Star Monday, Daniel Therrien asked Parliament to confirm the principles the court made in the Spencer decision, and to "clarify the very narrow scope of circumstances in which law enforcement can obtain subscriber information without a warrant." He said that since the ruling, law enforcement has stated that requiring a warrant has “made their jobs impossible,” to...
Privacy issues around wearables come into view
Media | 06/19/2015 3:17 pm EDT
As wearable technology moves further into the mainstream, thoughts are turning toward how individual privacy can be protected with such devices that track and transmit information as personal as health data and real-time location....
Privacy commish to monitor children’s online privacy
Media | 05/11/2015 3:48 pm EDT
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner said Monday it is participating in an international "sweep" of websites and mobile applications to help safeguard the privacy of children. The office said in a press release Monday that it will participate in an international initiative by the Global Privacy Enforcement...
Bell to make targeted ad program ‘opt-in,’ PIAC still fighting it
Media | 04/13/2015 9:00 pm EDT
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre said it will not drop a CRTC complaint against BCE Inc.’s targeted ad program, despite the company’s plans to re-launch the program according to...
Bell looks to avoid legal showdown with privacy commish
telecom | 04/07/2015 8:30 pm EDT
Faced with a possible legal fight against another agency of the federal government, BCE Inc. on Tuesday backed down after the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said the company refused to require...
Privacy commish looking into targeted advertising
telecom | 01/15/2015 7:02 pm EST
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is launching a research project into online advertising that targets users based on their online behaviour. In a letter to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB), privacy...
Counterfeit, online crime bills get royal assent
Media | 12/10/2014 5:22 pm EST
Bill C-8, officially known as the Combating Counterfeit Products Act, and Bill C-13, the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, both received royal assent on Tuesday. Bill C-13 has been criticized by many, including Privacy...
Privacy commish backs stricter privacy safeguards for apps
Media | 12/10/2014 5:13 pm EST
Canadian Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien has joined 22 other privacy authorities from Canadian provinces and international jurisdictions calling on mobile-app marketplaces to require easily...
PIPEDA complaints double, many target Bell’s tracking program
telecom | 08/21/2014 9:41 pm EDT
Complaints to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada nearly doubled in 2013 from the previous year as concerns about BCE Inc.'s advertising and tracking program filled the commissioner’s inbox. According to the privacy commissioner’s annual report to Parliament, released Thursday, there were 426 complaints made...
Therrien says court ruling should prompt reviews of C-13, S-4: report
telecom | 06/17/2014 7:27 pm EDT
New Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien says two government bills that deal with the sharing of information about Internet users, C-13 and S-4, should be reviewed in light of a recent Supreme Court decision, the Globe and Mail reported. An online article, based on an interview with Therrien on Tuesday, said the new privacy commissioner feels a court decision on Friday that said online subscriber information should be considered private has implications for both bills. “All of the...
Eliminate immunity for telecoms in C-13: privacy commish
telecom | 06/10/2014 8:55 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien told a House of Commons committee on Tuesday that he was troubled by provisions in the government’s cyberbullying legislation that...
Telecoms should provide warrantless disclosure stats: Therrien
telecom | 06/03/2014 10:24 pm EDT
OTTAWA — Daniel Therrien, the government’s nominee for privacy commissioner, told senators Tuesday that telecom companies should disclose statistics about the number of requests...
Daniel Therrien nominated as next privacy commish
telecom | 05/29/2014 2:07 pm EDT
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has nominated Daniel Therrien as the next federal privacy commissioner. Harper’s office issued the announcement through a press release on Wednesday. Therrien is currently an assistant deputy...