The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada takes your privacy serious, just ask Facebook or Google, two of the biggest global brands on the Internet both have had to made adjustments to their platform based on rulings from the Commissioner’s office. They announced this week that it will be participating in the first annual international Internet Privacy Sweep, along with 19 privacy enforcement authorities from around the globe.
“Privacy issues have become global and they require a global response,” says Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart. “It is critical that privacy enforcement authorities work together to help protect the privacy rights of people around the world.”
The Internet Privacy Sweep, which runs from May 6-12, 2013, includes authorities from: Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Macao, Macedonia, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom and the United States. In Canada, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia is also taking part.
During the week, participating authorities will dedicate individuals within their organization to search the Internet in a coordinated effort to assess privacy issues related to a common theme.
The theme selected for the first Sweep is Privacy Practice Transparency.
“Transparency is one of the privacy basics; organizations need to be open and clear with people about how they collect, use and disclose personal information,” says Commissioner Stoddart, whose Office is acting as international Sweep coordinator for this inaugural year.
Some of the issues that Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will consider when it examines a few hundred websites as part of the Internet Privacy Sweep include:
- Does the site have a privacy policy?
- How difficult is it to find information about the site’s privacy practices?
- Is contact information for addressing privacy questions and concerns readily available?
- How readable is the information about privacy practices?