In addition to investigating complaints about the operation of the Privacy Act, the Privacy Commissioner can conduct audits of the fair information practices of government institutions and carry out special studies referred to the Commissioner by the Minister of Justice. [...] So in the group of democratic nations--for example, the U. K., Australia, and so on--we find that our public Privacy Act is now very dated.8 The Privacy Commissioner listed several other reasons for seeking reform of the legislation as well, including the need to ensure that the responsibilities imposed on the public sector in the Privacy Act are at least as strong as those imposed on the private [...] At one point during the testimony, a Member of the Committee made a statement to clarify this mandate, which elicited no disagreement from either of the relevant witnesses: while the RCMP investigates on the basis of evidence, it is the job of CSIS to investigate on the basis of suspicion. [...] Any individual who has been refused access to personal information requested under subsection 12(1) may, if a complaint has been made to the Privacy Commissioner in respect of the refusal, apply to the Court for a review of the matter within forty-five days after the time the results of an investigation of the complaint by the Privacy Commissioner are reported to the complainant under subsection 3 [...] The Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed that the purpose of the Privacy Act is to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution, this purpose being of such importance to warrant characterizing the Privacy Act as “quasi-constitutional” because of the role privacy plays in the preservation of a free and democratic society.
- Pages
- 81
- Published in
- Canada
