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![]() News ReleasePrivacy Commissioner’s 2004-2005 Annual Report on the Privacy Act tabled in Parliament – Commissioner calls for reform to the Privacy ActOttawa, October 6, 2005 – The Privacy Act is an outdated and often inadequate public sector data protection law, according to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, in her 2004-2005 Annual Report on the Privacy Act, which was tabled today in Parliament. The Privacy Commissioner's 2004 Annual Report on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's private sector privacy law, was also tabled today. In her 2004-2005 Annual Report on the Privacy Act, the Commissioner highlights some of the most significant issues her Office has faced in the past year. These include security and the voracious appetite for personal information and surveillance that has sprung up in the post-9/11 environment, and the sharing of information and outsourcing of data operations across borders. She also emphasizes the long overdue need to modernize the Privacy Act, a first generation privacy law which has not been substantially amended since its inception in 1983. "The privacy landscape is infinitely more complex today than it was a decade ago," states Ms. Stoddart. "Faced with increased globalization and extensive outsourcing of personal information processing and storage, Canada's Privacy Act lags woefully behind." In her report, the Commissioner elaborates on the situation and explains some of the important things for the government to consider in updating the Privacy Act, for example:
The weaknesses of the Privacy Act are even more striking when the law is measured against PIPEDA. In fact, several of the Commissioner's concerns could be remedied by adopting provisions similar to those in PIPEDA. In addition to pointing out the flaws of the Privacy Act, the Commissioner also calls for a more comprehensive and consistent approach to managing privacy in the federal government. She recommends seeking improvements to the current system through the development of a privacy management framework. A privacy management framework should be designed to help departments protect the personal information they control by identifying the inherent privacy risks, and how best to mitigate those risks. This year, for the first time, the Commissioner has published two separate annual reports, dividing the Privacy Act from PIPEDA. The Privacy Act requires the Office to report on the fiscal year (2004-2005), while under PIPEDA, it must report on the calendar year (2004). As well, each Act provides a separate framework for investigations and audits. There is much overlapping between the reports because many of the Office's activities are not particular to one law or another and, increasingly, the policy issues are common across the two regimes. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is mandated by Parliament to act as an ombudsman, advocate and guardian of privacy rights in Canada. — 30 — To view the annual reports:
For more information, please contact: Anne-Marie Hayden |
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Date published: 2005-10-06 |
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Important Notices |