CIAO DATE: 08/2013

Big Data, Big Responsibilities: Recommendations to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on Canadian Privacy Rights in a Digital Age

July 2013

Centre for International Governance Innovation

Abstract

Big Data — an umbrella term encompassing the collection, retention and use of a massive volume and variety of data about individuals — presents a number of unique challenges that are increasingly undermining privacy rights. Canada’s Personal Information and Electronic Documents Ac (PIPEDA) established a legal foundation for protecting the online privacy rights of individuals, but new safeguards should be put in place to further prevent loss or resale of data, surveillance and tracking of an individual’s location, and misuse of data by corporate actors. Authors of the eighth Junior Fellows policy brief, Samantha Bradshaw, Kyle Harris and Hyla Zeifman, recommend that there be clearer guidelines indicating the length of time for storage of data; reinforced benefits to storing privacy-sensitive Canadian data on local clouds, to prevent jurisdictional privacy and security risks; clear and accessible Terms of Service agreements; and limits on third-party sharing and resale of collected data.

Resource link: Big Data, Big Responsibilities: Recommendations to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on Canadian Privacy Rights in a Digital Age [PDF]