Privacy Commissioner Focuses on Obtaining Greater Privacy Protection for Canadians in the US

In March 2017, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada published a letter sent to the Ministers of Justice, Public Safety and Defence, calling on Canadian officials to strengthen privacy protections available in the US to Canadians by adding Canada to the list of countries designated under the Judicial Redress Act.

The Judicial Redress Act was enacted in association with the replacement of the Safe Harbor Agreement between the US and the European Union, which was declared inadequate by the European Court of Justice in its October 2015 decision. 

The Judicial Redress Act seeks to provide citizens of countries on the list of designated countries with the same privacy protection afforded to US citizens under the Privacy Act.

The Privacy Commissioner’s letter is, at least in part, in response to a recent executive order, dated January 25, 2017, that states, among other things:

Sec. 14. Privacy Act. Agencies shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law, ensure that their privacy policies exclude persons who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents from the protections of the Privacy Act regarding personally identifiable information.

Summary By: Michael House