OPC Civil Society Round Table
Lead Sector: Policy and Promotion Sector
Purpose
- The OPC Civil Society Roundtable provides a venue for civil society groups to exchange ideas and discuss emerging issues with Canada’s federal privacy regulator.
Background
- Since 2009, the OPC has met biannually with Canadian civil society groups on a wide range of issues.
- While the OPC organizes the call and helps prepare meeting agendas, it generally acts as a facilitator for the discussion rather than an active participant. Meetings are informal in nature, held both in-person and video conference, usually with Executive Director or Deputy Commissioner-level representation from the OPC.
- Current participants include, but are not limited to, Open Media, Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), Freedom of Information and Privacy Association of British Columbia (BC-FIPA), Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Ligue des droits et libertés (LDD), Citizen Lab and Internet Society of Canada (ISOC).
Current OPC Participation
- The OPC’s last engagement with the Roundtable was in October 2021 to discuss the then-draft guidance on Facial Recognition.
Strategic Goals
- The exchange of views at the Roundtable meetings are extremely useful for the OPC. Representatives from civil society provide most of the agenda items and input, through which the OPC gets insight into emerging privacy issues, some of which it is not yet aware, from across Canada, notably Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The intersection between advocates’ work, academic examination of privacy issues and that of civil society groups is also easier to ascertain with regular open channels of communications.
Next steps
- The next meeting will occur over the summer of 2022.
Business Privacy Working Group
Lead Sector: Policy and Promotion Sector
Purpose
- The OPC meets with the Business Privacy Working Group (BPWG) periodically to discuss privacy issues and share views on the future of privacy laws. These meetings serve as an opportunity for the OPC to hear the views of businesses on several privacy topics and to give them updates about the work that we are doing.
Background
- The BPWG is an informal group chaired by [redacted] and is composed of various stakeholders from the industry sector, as well as lawyers from well-known law firms.
- BPWG meetings take the form of informal discussions on pre-determined privacy topics. Law reform has been the main subject of discussion during recent interactions. Members had strong views about the future of privacy law and wanted to share them with the OPC to influence its recommendations to Parliament.
Current OPC Participation
- The OPC’s last meeting with the BPWG was in October 2020. The Deputy Commissioner, Policy and Promotion leads BPWG meetings, with support from within the sector and various representatives across the OPC as necessary.
Strategic Goals
- The goal of this collaboration is to hear the views of key stakeholders in the industry sector so that the OPC considers their perspective in its advisory services, guidance and legislative recommendations pertinent to the business community.
International Association of Privacy Professionals
Lead Sector: Policy and Promotion Sector
Purpose
- The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) is a not-for-profit organization that offers educational and professional development services and holds annual conferences in North America, Europe, and Asia that are recognized as leading forums for the discussion and debate of issues related to privacy policy and practice. The OPC participates at two of these conferences: the IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium and the IAPP Global Privacy Summit.
Background
- IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium: An annual conference held in May in Toronto, ON. Attendees include hundreds of privacy professionals from the public and private sectors throughout Canada.
- IAPP Global Privacy Summit: An annual conference held in April in Washington, District of Columbia (DC). Attendees include thousands of privacy professionals from the public and private sectors around the world.
Current OPC Participation
- IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium: Each year, the IAPP offers the Commissioner the opportunity to provide a keynote address. The OPC is also one of the exhibitors at the Symposium, which has proven to be a valuable opportunity to engage directly with the Canadian privacy community and to showcase new resources, guidance, and other publications.
- IAPP Global Privacy Summit: The Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioners usually attend.
- The IAPP issues a call for proposal for both conferences. The OPC generally submits several speaking proposals for each, and selected OPC employees present accepted speaking proposals.
Strategic Goals
- IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium: This event serves as an important professional learning event for OPC staff, and offers valuable networking opportunities with key stakeholders.
- IAPP Global Privacy Summit: This event reinforces the objectives of promoting and supporting enforcement cooperation through the International Enforcement Cooperation Working Group, and engaging on issues related to global privacy risks with international bodies and regulatory networks. The conference also offers networking opportunities that leverage collaboration with domestic and international regulatory partners to achieve impactful compliance outcomes.
Next steps
- IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium: The next IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium will be held in May 2023. The OPC anticipates the IAPP will issue a call for proposals in June.
- IAPP Global Privacy Summit: The next IAPP Global Privacy Summit will take place on April 4-5, 2023. The OPC anticipates the IAPP will issue a call for proposals in June.
Further reading
