Data Privacy Day 2020

Celebrate Data Privacy Day

On January 28, along with many other countries around the world, Canada celebrates Data Privacy Day. This is an opportunity for the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioners to shine a spotlight on the impact technology is having on personal privacy rights while offering key points on the importance and value of protecting personal information.

Around the world, you will find events such as this live event link discussing privacy across the globe, this one with Canada’s very own Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Gregory Smolynec giving opening remarks.

The Privacy and Access Council of Canada is a proud Champion and host of Data Privacy Day events. This year, DPD2020 will be held in Toronto, ON. In anticipation of this day, they released an article titled the “Top 7 Things You Can Do to Prepare for Data Privacy Day 2020” found here. The top suggested point is that people like you and I become Data Privacy Day Champions! So, I tried.

Turns out, it is not easy to find an event in Alberta to celebrate today. In previous years  I have attended Data Privacy Day hosted by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC) 2019 Agenda and had an opportunity to network with other like minded people, this year however, I did not see an event listed on the OIPC’s website, so I emailed the Communications Liaison, who confirmed that they were indeed not hosting an event this year and thanked me for my interest.

So, to find out what updates us Alberta’s missing this year, lets turn  to the OIPC’s Annual Report found here.

OIPC Annual Report Main Points

The OIPC is, in fact, consistently receiving approximately 90 HIA breach reports each month, putting them on target to receive well over 1,000 in the first full year of mandatory breach reporting under the HIA, double their anticipated 500 new files (page 7, OIPC Annual Report).

Breach reports opened under PIPA increased by 26%, FOIP 112% and HIA a whopping 137% while a 10% decrease was seen in closed PIPA breach reports.

The number of privacy impact assessments (PIAs) submitted to the OIPC increased 37%.

Half way through the report you will find definitions and some related case files on Email Phishing, Social Engineering, E-Commerce and Electronic System Compromises, and Ransom Demands and ware.

There you have it, an increased awareness and understanding of the current scene. An increased knowledge is extremely positive and should be encouraged. It is not from the OIPC of Alberta itself, however, this oversight is clearly currently at risk. If they continue without adequate resources to perform timely independent reviews, then regular people lose the opportunity to become aware Privacy Champions on days like today for their generation and the next.

Update (January 29, 2020)

For Data Privacy Day 2020, Jill Clayton, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta released a statement titled Learning about privacy needs to be out in the open, which can be found here.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada launched a privacy presentation package aimed to get Canadians talking on Data Privacy Day. It can be found here.

 

 

 

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