OPC launches privacy breach risk self-assessment tool for federal institutions
March 26, 2025
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The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has launched of a new online tool that will help federal institutions that experience a privacy breach to assess whether the breach is likely to create a real risk of significant harm to individuals.
The privacy breach risk self-assessment tool is a convenient web-based application that guides users through a series of questions to assess the sensitivity of personal information that is involved in a data breach, and the probability that it will be misused.
The results provided through this online tool will help institutions to conduct a risk assessment following a data breach and determine the required next steps, including notifying affected individuals and reporting the breach to the OPC and to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS).
Privacy breaches can cause serious harm to people who are impacted. Harms can include bodily harm, humiliation, damage to reputation or relationships, loss of employment, financial loss, identity theft, negative effects on one’s credit record, and damage or loss of property.
The federal Policy on Privacy Protection (section 4.2.12) issued by TBS requires that federal government institutions report material privacy breaches – that is those that create a real risk of significant harm – to the OPC and TBS. Federal government institutions must also notify affected individuals unless such notification would be inappropriate for security, confidentiality, legal or other reasons.
Further reading
- Assess if a privacy breach poses a real risk of significant harm to an individual
- What is the privacy breach risk self-assessment tool?
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