Post Tagged with: "data localization"

Minneapolis Data Privacy Listening Session by Tony Webster (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/2hUwUZj

“We Don’t Have Any Specific Analysis”: CUSMA Negotiators Surprising Admission On Key Privacy Issues

Earlier this week, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology began hearings on Bill C-4, the bill designed to implement the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement. I appeared before the committee to discuss digital issues (more on the appearance in an upcoming post), but just prior to my panel, the team of lead negotiators from Global Affairs took questions from Members of Parliament.

The questioning opened with a stunning exchange between Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner and chief negotiator Steve Verheul on the privacy analysis (or lack thereof) conducted by Canadian officials:

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February 27, 2020 — 5 comments — News
Privacy Blue by Richard Patterson http://www.comparitech.com/ https://flic.kr/p/25cUnjs (CC BY 2.0)

Rewriting Canadian Privacy Law: Commissioner Signals Major Change on Cross-Border Data Transfers

Faced with a decades-old private-sector privacy law that is no longer fit for the purpose in the digital age, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has embarked on a dramatic reinterpretation of the law premised on incorporating new consent requirements. My Globe and Mail op-ed notes the strained interpretation arose last Tuesday when the OPC released a consultation paper signalling a major shift in its position on cross-border data transfers.

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April 16, 2019 — 7 comments — Columns
cloud_computing-1 by Lou Gold (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/7PBavj

How Canada Surrendered Policy Flexibility for Data Localization Rules in the USMCA

The digital policy implications of the USMCA have attracted increasing attention as Canadians consider the risks that the agreement could limit future policy flexibility. In particular, the agreement restricts the use of data localization, an increasingly popular legal method for addressing public interest concerns associated with the collection of online information by mandating that data be stored within the local jurisdiction. Restrictions on data localization are not entirely new to Canada, since similar provisions are found in the CPTPP (the successor to the Trans Pacific Partnership). That means that Canada has already agreed to limits on data localization with or without the USMCA. However, the USMCA’s data localization provision differs in a significant way, suggesting that the Canadian government has agreed to an even more restrictive approach than that found in the CPTPP.

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October 10, 2018 — 6 comments — News
GDPR & ePrivacy Regulations by Dennis van der Heijden Convert GDPR https://www.convert.com/GDPR/ (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/2524HfE

Data Rules in Modern Trade Agreements: Toward Reconciling an Open Internet with Privacy and Security Safeguards

CIGI’s essay series on data governance in the digital age has shone a spotlight on the need for a national data strategy. My contribution notes that central to any data strategy will be some measure of data control. Given the implications for privacy, security and innovation policies, this includes some control over where data is stored and the conditions under which it is transferred across borders. Yet, despite the mounting data concerns, Canada may have already signed away much of its policy flexibility with respect to rules on both data localization and data transfers, severely restricting its ability to implement policy measures in the national interest.

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April 9, 2018 — 1 comment — News
IBC CTV Central Equipment Room by Josh Tidsbury (CC BY-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/7E6pXU

Canadian Position on Data Localization Rules in Trade Deals Revealed: Protection for Government Data Only

Data localization rules, which require data to be stored locally, have emerged as an increasingly popular legal method for providing some additional assurances about the privacy protection for personal information. Although heavily criticized by those who fear that it harms the free flow of information, requirements that personal information be stored within the local jurisdiction is an unsurprising reaction to concerns about the lost privacy protections if the data is stored elsewhere. Data localization requirements are popping up around the world with European requirements in countries such as Germany, Russia, and Greece; Asian requirements in Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia; Australian requirements for health records, and Latin America requirements in Brazil. Canada has not been immune to the rules either with both British Columbia and Nova Scotia creating localization requirements for government data.

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December 18, 2017 — 5 comments — News
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