2020-21 Departmental Plan

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Operating context

The OPC’s strategic and operating environments are constantly evolving given the speed of technological change, the array of new business models and different means of collecting and processing data. Existing privacy legislation is ill-suited to address these challenges. 

For many years now, our Office has provided a detailed account to Parliament that Canadians need stronger, more enforceable federal privacy laws. We continue to live in a time of constant technological change. We see an increasing reliance on mass data collection and sharing, automated decision-making, and profiling as generators of economic activity. The privacy implications and, by extension, risks to fundamental rights and freedoms, are immense. Technological advances in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics, genetic profiling and the Internet of things raise novel and highly complex privacy risks.

Privacy issues are continuing to be more interdisciplinary and cross-jurisdictional, requiring interoperable global rules and cooperation when data flows across borders constantly. Our joint investigations with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia into Facebook/Cambridge Analytica and AggregateIQ are examples of how our work intersects with areas beyond privacy, including how information could be used to influence our democratic processes. These are also a strong example of our cross-jurisdictional work resulting in meaningful outcomes when regulators work in tandem.

Internationally, we’ve seen a strengthening of privacy laws in several jurisdictions to address new challenges brought by digital technologies. It is clear that privacy reform is gaining momentum on the global stage, as governments and legislators around the world have come to realize the shortcomings and threats of self-regulation models in a globalized digital economy. Recently, government-wide privacy priorities have been announced in several ministerial mandate letters^{Footnote 1} that could significantly change the privacy landscape in Canada. It is our hope that Canada is ready to take firm, decisive action to modernize our privacy legislation to better protect the rights of Canadians as they interact with businesses and government in a world where personal information has become a primary currency. Canada, once thought of as a privacy leader, is lagging behind.

We recognize that the digital age has engendered convenience and better services, whether it be services delivered by governments to citizens or companies to consumers. Digital tools have inspired creativity in the way businesses and governments work, and in the way individuals socialize and communicate. Digital services are being developed to benefit society in all sorts of ways, from new health devices, to technologies aimed at environmental protection. Such innovation is vital for Canada’s continued economic growth, and having a strong legislative framework that positions Canada as a privacy leader will only serve to strengthen our competitive position.

Canadians deserve rights-based federal privacy laws. The incorporation of a rights-based framework in our privacy laws would help support responsible innovation and foster trust in government, giving individuals the confidence to fully participate in society and benefit from technological advances. 

Both private and public sector organizations will be able to continue to innovate and thrive in an environment that supports and encourages innovation and recognizes and protects the privacy rights of individuals. In fact, a greater focus on privacy rights, responsible practices, and transparency could assist the business community and public sector in ensuring that they remain competitive and relevant on both a domestic and international level given global developments in this regard.

Over the past year both the Department of Justice and Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada have released discussion papers on modernization of the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), respectively. The question is no longer whether Canada’s privacy laws should be modernized, but how. In particular, how do we modernize the law to ensure that privacy rights and values in Canada are respected within a new digital ecosystem eagerly focused on embracing and leveraging data for various purposes? Our Office is actively engaged with both departments to help ensure that both privacy laws provide a strong framework to protect privacy rights.

The OPC received funding as part of Budget 2019 to enhance its ability to deliver on its mandated obligations within the current legislative framework in the face of the exponential growth of the digital economy. We are focused on using these new funds in a manner that provides optimal benefits for Canadians, ensuring advice and guidance is provided to organizations on how to protect privacy and to address our investigative backlog to ensure complaints are addressed in a timely fashion.