Pssst... Wanna buy your neighbour's personal file?

Consumers must protect their own data profiles because the government isn't helping, Ontario's Privacy Commissioner says

By: Scott Piatkowski

  Last week's disclosure that the federal government maintains huge data files on almost every Canadian was disturbing but it's only the tip of the iceberg in terms of privacy concerns.
 

Outside of Quebec (which has excellent privacy laws that should be a model for all Canadian jurisdictions), there are only industry-sponsored "codes of conduct" to control how your personal information is obtained, stored, secured, sold or traded

  Federal and provincial privacy legislation is so weak that governments and private companies are able to keep tabs on our every move without fear of any reprisals.
  Outside of Quebec (which has excellent privacy laws that should be a model for all Canadian jurisdictions), there are only industry-sponsored "codes of conduct" to control how your personal information is obtained, stored, secured, sold or traded. In fact, "data mining" is one of the biggest growth industries around.
 

"Right now, it is up to the consumer to take responsibility for their own data profile," says Ontario's Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian

  Ontario's Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian is pushing Queen's Park to bring in new legislation, and the federal government has also promised to act. It remains to be seen how much real protection these new laws will offer (drafts seen to date are not promising). In the meantime, "businesses have been encouraged to adopt a culture of privacy," Cavoukian says.
  "Right now, it is up to the consumer to take responsibility for their own data profile," she told This Magazine last spring.
  That may not be as easy as it sounds, given the large number of databases of which we may unknowingly be a part. Credit records, Air Miles and other customer loyalty programs, and even video store membership cards all leave data trails.
 

As well, particularly in the era of e-business, the potential for breaches of security is enormous. The Loyalty Management Group, which runs the Air Miles program, mistakenly posted the private files of its cardholders on the public portion of its website. The files were up for more than a year.

  While no one is disputing the right of financial institutions and stores to base credit approvals on a customer's previous record, those records can be incomplete, out of date, or simply wrong. "Large databases conservatively have estimate rates of up to 30 per cent," Cavoukian says, meaning that nearly a third of the information in your file could be wrong.
  As well, particularly in the era of e-business, the potential for breaches of security is enormous. The Loyalty Management Group, which runs the Air Miles program, mistakenly posted the private files of its cardholders on the public portion of its website. The files stayed up for more than a year.
  Other invasions of privacy are far more deliberate. When Ontario's Harris government wanted to find out how account holders felt about the idea of privatizing the Province of Ontario Savings Office, it simply gave the holders' names, phone numbers and account balances to a private polling firm to conduct a survey.
  When Cavoukian tried to investigate, the Tories repeatedly refused to co-operate. Legislative Speaker Gary Carr eventually cited the government for contempt and both opposition parties are calling for a police investigation. Interestingly, the action was only illegal because the financial institution was government-owned; any other bank could have done the same thing without the Privacy Commission raising an eyebrow..
  Despite his own government's questionable track record, Ontario Premier Mike Harris was quick to leap on the bandwagon and criticize the federal government's data files last week. "This is the kind of thing that concerns all of us as citizens," he said apparently without irony..
  Harris wasn't the only one crying crocodile tears after last week's data files disclosure. The National Post was also highly critical of the federal government's files, even though it has admitted to selling its subscriber list to Canadian Alliance leadership candidate Tom Long's campaign.
  The governments in this country are expected to introduce new legislation to curb the growing data mining industry soon. Until they do, consumers may want to be a bit more reticent before blurting out their personal information the next they go to the mall.

Get More/Do More
For more information:

[ Front Page ]