A Celebration of Women™

is honored to Celebrate the Life of one of Canada’s Awesome women.

The information on this feature comes straight from our Prime Minister’s Office,

Please join us in the Celebration of a Woman with the ability, care, heart, and perseverence to Take Action and not only Run for Office, but, do the job so well that she is re-instated due to her exemplary performance. In these times when our world is crying out for Women to Run for Office, this lady is a true Celebration for Women of the World, as she has devoted her life to Public Office and to the people of Canada.

 

WOMAN of ACTION™

 

 

Jennifer Stoddart

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed the reappointment of Jennifer Stoddart as Privacy Commissioner of Canada for a three-year term. The reappointment, which was recently approved by the Senate and the House of Commons, is effective immediately.” Today, in 2013 this woman is still diligently at work, with Privacy as her primary duty in the realm of human rights.

 

Ms Stoddart has been serving as the Privacy Commissioner of Canada since December 2003.

 

“The Office of the Privacy Commissioner was created in 1977 under the Canadian Human Rights Act, Part IV. The Privacy Act, which currently governs the functions of the Privacy Commission, was adopted in 1983.

As an Agent of Parliament, the Privacy Commissioner oversees compliance with both the Privacy Act, which covers the personal information-handling practices of federal government departments and agencies, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Canada’s private sector privacy law. The mission of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is to protect and promote the privacy rights of individuals.”

Jennifer Stoddart was previously President of the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec (2000-2003), an organization responsible for both access to information and the protection of personal information.

 

 

She also held several senior positions in public administration for the governments of Québec and Canada from 1982 to 2000, including at the Canadian and the Québec Human Rights Commissions.

Ms Stoddart has been active in the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, and has also lectured on history and legal sciences at the Université du Québec à Montréal and McGill University. She is a member of the Québec Bar.

She was first appointed as

Privacy Commissioner of Canada

 in December 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Stoddart holds a bachelor of civil law degree from McGill University, a doctoral degree from the Université de Paris VII, a master of arts degree in history from the Université du Québec à Montréal, and a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto’s Trinity College.

Complete Biography: http://www.priv.gc.ca/aboutUs/bio_e.cfm

December 7, 2010
Ottawa, Ontario

The job of a Privacy Commissioner in the 21st Century is to heighten the value of privacy in a global society where security, trade, technology and consumer expectations have created a volatile atmosphere for our personal information.

This is no small undertaking. These intensifying threats to privacy keep the dedicated staff of the Office and me extremely busy.

Globalization raises the challenge of trying to find a cross-border privacy language. Technological advances hold out the promise of greater convenience, but sometimes at a cost to human rights such as privacy and the ability to control our personal information.

Meanwhile, governments and businesses have a seemingly insatiable appetite for personal information.

Governments appear to believe – mistakenly, I would argue – that the key to national security and public safety is collecting mountains of personal data. Privacy often receives short shrift as new anti-terrorism and law enforcement initiatives are rolled out.

Personal information has also become a hot commodity in the private sector. Our names, addresses, purchases, interests, likes and dislikes are recorded, analysed and stored – all so companies can sell us more products and services.

Adding to our concerns is the fact many businesses fail to adequately protect this sensitive information – leaving it vulnerable to hackers and identity thieves.

The list of issues that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner deals with on a daily basis – through investigations, for example – will always be a lengthy one. However, we have identified four top strategic priorities, which will allow us to take a more focused approach to emerging privacy issues over the coming few years.

These priorities are:

Information Technology

While technological advances offer undeniable benefits in terms of convenience and efficiency, they also provide governments and other organizations with the ability to collect, access and manipulate personal data on a scale that was until recent times unimaginable. The result is an electronic environment of massive and continuous data circulation. Technology has also become the weapon of choice for fraudsters, who use it to launch spam attacks and invade computers with “spyware.”

We have set a number of goals in this area:•Build sufficient capacity within the OPC to assess the privacy impact of new information technologies.
•Increase public awareness of technologies with potential impacts on privacy.
•Provide practical guidance to organizations and institutions on the implementation of specific technologies.

National Security

The national security landscape changed dramatically after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Many of the national security measures introduced in the wake of that tragic day – the no-fly list, for example – have involved the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. There is a very real risk for harm when this information is misused or misinterpreted.

Our objectives are to:
•Ensure national security initiatives adequately protect privacy.
•Ensure proper oversight and accountability of national security agencies as it relates to personal information management practices.
•Raise public awareness of the privacy impacts of national security initiatives.

Identity Integrity and Protection / Identity Theft

Identity theft has been called the “Crime of the 21st Century.” This type of fraud carries not only a major financial cost, but a hefty emotional price for victims.

We are working to:•Improve personal information management practices of organizations and institutions.
•Raise public awareness among individuals on how to protect their identity.
•Persuade the federal government to take a more coordinated approach to identity protection.

Genetic Information

Advances in genetics have important implications for privacy. Genetic testing for employment, criminal matters, research, medical care, access to insurance and genetic testing to determine biological relationships all raise significant privacy issues.

Our aims are to:•Advance research and knowledge to address some of the new challenges posed by genetics in the context of traditional data protection regimes. These challenges include the right not to know and the concept of privacy in a world where a genetic sample offers information about not only an individual, but also about his or her family members.

•Raise public awareness about the many potential uses of genetic information.
We have set an ambitious agenda for ourselves over the coming few years. My commitment to Canadians is to be passionate and persistent in defending their privacy rights as we work to address all of these crucial issues.

Jennifer Stoddart
Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Four lawyers, including Jennifer Stoddart, the Canadian privacy commissioner famous for taking on Facebook and Google, have been awarded special recognitions by the Barreau du Québec, the professional order representing the province’s 23,000 lawyers.

Stoddart, a McGill University law graduate and the federal government’s privacy commissioner since 2003, received the Mérite Christine-Tourigny 2011, for her “remarkable work in the protection of personal information and because of the significant impact of her professional actions on the evolution of law in that area.”

SCHEDULE FOR BALANCE OF 2013 – Jennifer Stoddart

June 18-19, 2013
Maritime Access and Privacy Conference, organized by the Nova Scotia FOIPOP Review Office, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Chantal Bernier, Assistant Privacy Commissioner

June 26, 2013
AccessPrivacy Conference, organized by Heenan Blaikie, Toronto, Ontario
Brent Homan, Director General, PIPEDA Investigations Branch
Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel, Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch

July 1-3, 2013
Privacy Laws and Business Annual International Conference, organized by Privacy Laws and Business, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel, Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch
Website: http://www.privacylaws.com/annualconference

September 3, 2013
P3G/CGP/ELSI 2.0 Collaboratory Workshop, Montreal, Quebec
Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel, Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch

September 23-26, 2013
36th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, Warsaw, Poland
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada

September 27-28, 2013
Canadian Bar Association Symposium, Ottawa, Ontario
Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel, Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch

October 10, 2013
Symposium on online exploitation in the lives of girls, organized by Status of Women Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel, Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch

October 10-11, 2013
Privacy and Access 20/20: A New Vision for Information Rights, organized by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Chantal Bernier, Assistant Privacy Commissioner
Carman Baggaley, Senior Policy Advisor, Legal Services, Policy and Research Branch
Daphne Guerrero, Public Education and Outreach Manager, Communications Branch
Website: http://www.privacyandaccess2013.ca/events/privacyandaccess2013/

October 31-November 1, 2013
Colloque annuel du Conseil de la magistrature du Québec, organized by the Conseil de la magistrature du Québec, Québec, Québec
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada

November 4, 2013
Community of Federal Regulators National Workshop, Ottawa, Ontario
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada

November 4, 2013
Canadian Payments System Conference, hosted by the CD Howe Institute, Toronto, Ontario
Chantal Bernier, Assistant Privacy Commissioner

November 14, 2013
Central Agencies Portfolio All-Staff Meeting hosted by the Department of Justice, Ottawa, Ontario
Jennifer Stoddart, Privacy Commissioner of Canada

For more information, please send us an e-mail at [email protected].

In the past three posts I’ve documented the atrocious state of data privacy in the federal government. Through leaks, spies, hacks and willful disregard, Ottawa has had a disastrous few years when it comes to safeguarding the data it collects on us— a 40 per cent uptick in privacy complaints during the past year alone, worsening an already dismal record that dwarfs all privacy complaints against private industry combined. The numbers, again: private industry generated 281 complaints, 19 of which concerned the Internet. Government generated 986.All of this happened during Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart’s watch. And she is, after all, a watchdog. So where has she been in all of this?

She’s been on Facebook.

During the past five years or so of her 10-year tenure, Stoddart has focused obsessively on curbing the supposed transgressions of social media sites. She has been praised wildly for these efforts, especially by the Globe and Mail, which squeals with delight each time Stoddart, the “trail-blazing,” “fearless privacy cop” “scolds” Facebook, Google, eHarmony, or, most recently, the nominally popular messaging service Whatsapp. What are her accomplishments in this realm? Chief among them, said the Globe, was the time she ”slowed Google’s plans to send cars armed with cameras to capture and post images … on its Google Street website.”

Thanks for that. Google Street View, let’s remember, is a brilliant, useful and free service that’s beloved by everyone except maybe pitchfork-wielding Norweigan scuba divers.

To put Stoddart’s social media fixation into focus: last year, as our government was leaking data by the gigabyte through lost hard drives while being fleeced by an undetected spy with a USB stick , Stoddart released six statements concerning government privacy concerns, and 21 statements about online privacy.

Yes, the Privacy Commissioner complained more about the Internet in 2012 than the entire Canadian population did.

To be clear: Jennifer Stoddart is not responsible for the government’s atrocious record on privacy, its continuing lack of data hygiene, or its basic disregard for the concept of privacy. But you’d think, based on the complaints and the severity of the lapses, that she might have made reforming Ottawa a priority. Instead, she may in fact have made things worse. READ MORE HERE – MCCLEANS

  

A Celebration of Women™

sends our blessings and congratulations to this Power of Example to all Women.

We thank you for not only taking office, but, for staying in office representing the Rights and Power of Women.

 

Brava Jennifer!