A long-running standoff between Facebook and Canada’s privacy commissioner is heading to Federal Court after a scathing report from the privacy watchdog said the company “outright rejected” guidance that would bring it into compliance with Canada’s privacy laws.
Cambridge Analytica drew worldwide condemnation and sanctions from privacy watchdogs and the scandal grew into a global controversy for Facebook about how it protects users’ privacy. Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James said she is investigating Facebook unauthorized storage of up to 1.5 million Facebook users’ email contact databases. Last week, Facebook said it may have “unintentionally uploaded” email contacts of up to 1.5 million new users since May 2016, adding that the “contacts were not shared with anyone and we are deleting them.”
Privacy advocates in Canada have pointed to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, as the gold standard for privacy rules, partly because it allows countries to levy fines as a percentage of a company’s revenue. Google, for example, was fined 50 million Euros — about $75 million — for not providing enough information to users about its data consent policies.
“Does the privacy commissioner need greater powers in the absence of cooperation? I think that’s correct,” said Eltis, but she warned that it could push Canada away from its cooperative model and towards a more punitive one that isn’t necessarily more effective.
Political parties will be a primary target for bad actors like Cambridge Analytica, he said, so it’s important that they secure data properly. The House of Commons ethics and privacy committee has also advised the government to bring political parties under the existing privacy regime, with no success.
Let me guess. Trudeau wants gender neutral censorship. ‘Outright rejected’ said another way is ‘kiss my ass’. I’m with Facebook.
Canadians can look after themselves. If the watchdogs were fired and the spending saved returned to us would be just fine.