A bill designed to modernize privacy laws for Canada’s private sector would give consumers less control of their personal data and organizations more power to use it to make money, Canada’s privacy commissioner says.
Bill C-11 would be “a step back overall” from current privacy laws, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said in a submission to the House of Commons committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
Therrien’s submission, which contains 60 recommendations, states that the bill is “frequently misaligned and less protective” of consumers’ data than privacy laws in other countries.
The penalty scheme is “unjustifiable narrow and protracted,” he added.
Bill C-11, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, was introduced in the House last November. It would replace the existing Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, or PIPEDA, as it’s often known, which experts say is badly outdated.
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The bill is meant to give consumers greater control of their personal data when the data are handled by companies. It includes the power to fine companies up to five per cent of their revenues, or $25 million, whichever is greater, for serious violations.
It would also give the privacy commissioner greater authority to compel organizations to comply with the watchdog’s directives.
However, Therrien’s submission says his office needs more flexible tools to go after rule-breakers in this rapidly changing digital environment.
He’d be operating under a system of…
