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In order to comply with Canadian privacy law, Facebook must take greater responsibility for the personal information in its care, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said today in announcing the results of an investigation into the popular social networking site's privacy policies and practices. "It's clear that privacy issues are top of mind for Facebook, and yet we found serious privacy gaps in the way the site operates," says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart. The investigation, prompted by a complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, identified several areas where Facebook needs to better address privacy issues and bring its practices in line with Canadian privacy law. An overarching concern was that, although Facebook provides information about its privacy practices, it is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the "account settings" page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook's servers. The Privacy Commissioner's report recommends more transparency, to ensure that the social networking site's nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.

Even as the Canadian government is fighting against "Buy American" policies that discriminate against Canadian firms, the federal government appears to be quietly continuing with policies that effectively block U.S. firms from winning some kinds of federal contracts. Case in point: a contract worth $150 million to help relocate nearly more than 18,000 public servants every year was awarded to the only Canadian bidder in mid-August. American firms were interested in the contract but say they were essentially blocked from the bidding because of a provision that personal information about Canadians cannot be stored on computerized databases outside of Canada. Canada Post, a Crown corporation, is about to award its own multimillion-dollar relocation services contract and it, too, has effectively blocked U.S. companies from bidding with a requirement that personal information be stored only on computers in Canada.

Stunned applicants filling out immigration forms are now being warned their personal information can be shared with the RCMP, national security and intelligence agents, and even foreign cops. The immigrants, many who arrive here from brutal regimes, are being told that they must sign a consent form or their requests will not be dealt with by federal immigration officials. One form, which was obtained by Sun Media, said the data can be shared with the Canada Border Services Agency, RCMP, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and foreign police. TARGET FRIENDS The information can be used to target friends or family members of those who say negative things about their homelands, said Jamal Kaker, of the Afghan Association of Ontario. "This will impact a lot of immigrants in many communities," he said yesterday. "This is scary because the information will get back to Afghanistan in no time." Toronto lawyer Guidy Mamann said it can be deadly for immigrants who give information that may be negative to their governments and are then refused by Canada. "The rights of these immigrants are being trampled," Mamann said. "All this was done under the radar without an announcement." He said foreign police -- some working for the worst regimes -- will be able to find out where their nationals who fled to Canada live and allegations they have leveled against their homelands. "All this information will now be shared," Mamann said. "The lives of immigrants and some Canadian citizens will become an open book." SIGN FORMS He said Canadian citizens are affected if they sign forms to sponsor a spouse or loved ones. "It's another nail in the coffin for civil rights in Canada," Mamann said. "Negative information against governments will now be open for sharing." Toronto lawyer Mendel Green called the changes troubling. "This is a serious breach of our privacy laws," he said. "It appears to be an excess of authority. Big Brother wants to watch our visitors." Federal immig

Canadians who travelled to the United States in 2008 are being advised to check their credit-card statements and watch for signs of identity theft after a massive security breach at a U. S.-based company that processes millions of credit cards. Canada's Privacy Commissioner said yesterday she was shocked to learn that New Jersey-based Heartland Payment Systems, which processes credit-card transactions for more than 250,000 businesses in the United States, had found "malicious software" in its operating system. "I'm amazed to see something this significant can still happen with the importance that not only privacy commissioners, but experts everywhere, are placing on security," Jennifer Stoddard said. "I was concerned to see this going on and the size of it." Tech experts say the hack could be one of the largest ever credit-or debit-card data breaches, and that Canadians should watch closely for signs of identity theft.

Is it a violation of privacy that should be banned or a tool necessary to keep the internet running? Canada's privacy commissioner has opened an online discussion on deep packet inspection, a technology that allows internet service providers and other organizations to intercept and examine packets of information as they are being sent over the internet. "We realized about a year ago that technologies involving network management were increasingly affecting how personal information of Canadians was being handled," said Colin McKay, director of research, education and outreach for the commissioner's office. The office decided to research those technologies, especially after receiving several complaints, and realized it was an opportunity to inform Canadians about the privacy implications. Over the weekend, the privacy commissioner launched a website where the public can discuss a series of essays on the technology written by 14 experts. The experts range from the privacy officer of a deep-packet inspection service vendor to technology law and internet security researchers. The website also offers an overview of the technology, which it describes as having the potential to provide "widespread access to vast amounts of personal information sent over the internet" for uses such as: * Targeted advertising based on users' behaviour. * Scanning for unlawful content such as copyright or obscene materials. * Intercepting data as part of surveillance for national security and crime investigations. * Monitoring traffic to measure network performance.

"In light of a spike in identity theft and the frequency with which personal information is stored on portable devices, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) have expanded Generally Accepted Privacy Principles (GAPP) to include protocols for securing and disposing of personal information. "Safeguarding personal information is one of the most challenging responsibilities facing an organization, whether such information pertains to employees or customers," said Everett C. Johnson, CPA, chair of AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force and a past international president of ISACA, a global information technology association. "We've updated the criteria of our privacy principles to minimize the risks to personal information." GAPP offers guidance and best practices on securing portable devices, breach management and ensuring continued effectiveness of privacy controls. The guidance additionally covers disposal and destruction of personal information. The principles are designed for chief privacy officers, executive management, compliance officers, legal counsel, CPAs and CAs offering technology advisory services. "Portable tools such as laptops and memory sticks provide convenience to employees but appropriate measures must be put in place to secure them and the data they contain," said Donald Sheehy, CA.CISA, CIPP/C, associate partner with Deloitte (Canada) and a member of the AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force. "We must stay abreast of technological advances to assure that proper measures are put into place to defend against any new threats." Created by the AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force, GAPP is designed to help an organization's management team assess an existing privacy program or address privacy obligations and risks. The principles provide a framework for CPAs and CAs to offer privacy services to their clients and employers, such as advisory services, privacy risk assessments and attestation or

Yesterday, CBC radio's morning show, the current, featured Lessons From The Identity Trail co-author, Ian Kerr, who discussed the book and a number of contemporary challenges that privacy faces in light of emerging technologies with guest host, Nancy Wilson. Below is the the text of Nancy Wilson's introduction and a link to the podcast of the full length interview in segment #3 of the show. To some people the Internet is the world's biggest commons ... a global public square. For others, it's a realm of shadowy, anonymous figures hiding behind online aliases. But anonymity is becoming less and less a feature of life online. We aired a clip with one perspective on that trend, posted last May on the website, Mobuzz.tv. Taking responsibility for your actions on line may be just one way you relinquish privacy. Every day, millions of Canadians hop on the Internet to check their e-mail, chat with their friends on social networking sites, book a vacation or buy a gift. And each time they click on a purchase or post a picture, they give up a little bit of their privacy. With this explosion of information technology - there are those who warn that our anonymity and our right to privacy is in jeopardy. That's the premise of a new book called On The Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy and Identity in a Networked Society. Academics, governments and private corporations around the world contributed to the book, which examines how technology is changing the nature of our private lives, and what it means to be "anonymous."

Facebook has agreed to make changes to better protect users' personal information on the social networking site and comply with Canadian privacy laws within one year, Canada's privacy commissioner said Thursday. "These changes mean that the privacy of 200 million Facebook users in Canada and around the world will be far better protected," said privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.