The Windsor Star features a masthead editorial on C-29, the privacy reform bill introduced this week. The Star calls for changes, concluding "Clement needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with legislation that puts the interests of consumers first."
Wiertz Sebastien - Privacy by Sebastien Wiertz (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/ahk6nh
Privacy
C-29: The Anti-Privacy Privacy Bill
Industry Minister Tony Clement introduced two bills yesterday – the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (C-28) and the Safeguarding Canadians' Personal Information Act (C-29). I have spoken positively about C-28 (here, here, and here), which is long overdue and should receive swift passage. By contrast, C-29 is a huge disappointment. The bill is also long overdue as it features the amendments to Canadian private sector privacy law from a review that began in 2006 and concluded with a report in 2007.
Just over three years later, the government has introduced a bill that does little for Canadians' privacy, while providing new exceptions for businesses and new powers for law enforcement (David Fraser has helpfully created a redline version of PIPEDA with the proposed changes). The centrepiece of the bill is a new security breach disclosure provision, but the requirements are very weak when compared with similar laws found elsewhere. In fact, with no penalties for failure to notify security breaches, the provisions may do more harm than good since Canadians will expect to receive notifications in the event of a breach, but companies may err on the side of not notifying (given the very high threshold discussed below) safe in the knowledge that there are no financial penalties for failing to do so.
The Anti-Spam Bill: New Name, Roughly Same Bill
The government today introduced Bill C-28, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act. The bill carries a new name from the old Bill C-27 (which was titled the Electronic Commerce Protection Act), but the bill is roughly the same as the bill that passed the House of Commons last year. […]
Government Tables Anti-Spam and Privacy Reform Bills
The government has tabled two bills this morning focused on Internet and technology issues: C-28: Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act and C-29: Safeguarding Canadians’ Personal Information Act. More information and analysis to follow.
Anti-Spam and Data Breach Notification Bills Coming Next Week
The government has placed two bills on the notice paper for introduction next week: the Electronic Commerce Protection Act (which is the re-introduction of the anti-spam bill that died with prorogation) and amendements to PIPEDA (which should be a data breach notification requirement bill).
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