Canada: Lawmakers call for strengthening of privacy Law

On October 10, 2024, a Canadian parliamentary committee submitted a report to the federal government calling for a revision of the Privacy Act. This document includes 14 proposals aimed at strengthening privacy protection at the federal level. The parliamentary initiative was triggered by a Radio-Canada investigation published in November 2023, which examined the practices of several federal ministries and agencies.

The report detailed the use of data extraction tools by these institutions. These software tools are capable of unlocking smartphones, tablets, and computers, and exfiltrating all the information they contain, even when encrypted and protected by passwords. However, most of these public institutions had not assessed the privacy risks associated with deploying these tools, as required by a federal directive.

The parliamentary committee is therefore recommending that the executive revise the Privacy Act. “A law that predates social media, that predates the Internet, you don’t have to be a genius to understand that it’s a bit outdated,” said MP René Villemure.

The lawmakers propose, among other things, to include an explicit requirement in the law for federal institutions to conduct privacy impact assessments before adopting high-risk technological tools. The committee also wants to expand the powers of the Federal Privacy Commissioner, particularly in terms of enforcement capabilities.