Canada Post to review use of personal data after breaking privacy laws – National | 24CA News
Canada Post can be conducting a evaluate of its advertising and marketing program after the federal privateness watchdog decided it had damaged privateness legislation through the use of Canadians’ private info in an unauthorized method.
The workplace of Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne mentioned in a report this week that the info collected by Canada Post was used to create mail-marketing lists rented to companies, in a program referred to as Smartmail Marketing.
The information contains details about the place people dwell and how much on-line purchasing they do, the report says. However, it provides that Canada Post had not obtained consent from people to not directly acquire info from envelopes for the aim of enabling its advertising and marketing program.
Therefore, the postal service was discovered to have violated part 5 of the Privacy Act — a discovering Canada Post initially disputed.
Canada Post addressed the commissioner’s allegations in a press release Friday.
“We are trusted to handle Canadians’ personal information every day. There is nothing more important to us than maintaining that trust with Canadians. We therefore understand that Canadians may be concerned following the release of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s annual report,” Canada Post mentioned.
Canada Post additionally mentioned Friday that it’s dedicated to the Privacy Act and the protections it locations on private information.
“We are therefore going to conduct a review of our data services program to ensure we live up to the standards that Canadians expect,” it mentioned.
While this system is in evaluate, Canada Post says they are going to be boosting transparency and consciousness of their strategy for utilizing private info. They can even be “streamlining and providing greater visibility” for his or her opt-out packages, it says.
“Through it all, we will continue to work closely with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner,” the assertion says.
Section 5 of the Privacy Act “requires institutions to collect personal information directly from individuals and notify them of the purposes of collection, unless limited exceptions apply,” the commissioner’s report says.
The phrases of “authorization” are usually not outlined within the Act, however the commissioner’s view is that people should pay attention to the observe that their info is getting used and have taken an motion “that can reasonably be inferred as giving permission for the practice,” the report says.
The commissioner beneficial in his report that Canada Post cease utilizing and disclosing private info obtained from its personal operational information for mail advertising and marketing functions till it obtains Canadians’ consent.
However, the postal service had “refused” to take the beneficial motion, the report mentioned.
The watchdog’s report says Canada Post disagreed with Dufresne’s conclusion that they’d damaged privateness legislation, explaining that it has needed to repeatedly discover new methods to diversify its income stream to make up for a declining quantity of letters over a few years.
The workplace of Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, says they have been involved to listen to concerning the allegations relating to Canada Post.
“As soon as the Minister was made aware of the situation, he called M. Ettinger, the President and CEO of Canada Post, to reiterate that the protection and preservation of Canadians’s [sic] right to privacy is of the utmost importance. M. Ettinger assured Minister Duclos that they were fully collaborating with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner,” a press release from the workplace to Global News mentioned.
Canada Post is quoted within the commissioner’s report saying they don’t view their “engagement in these activities as being in any way contrary to the public good.”
The report says the privateness investigation started when a person acquired advertising and marketing materials from an area restaurant in Toronto, addressed to him, along with his identify and full condo tackle on the envelope.
According to the complainant, he was informed by Canada Post that “the (marketing) program combines information about individuals that CPC has in its possession with publicly available information obtained from the phone directory and sells this to businesses interested in marketing to individuals,” the commissioner’s report writes.
The report notes that Canada Post doesn’t straight present companies with the data.
Rather, for a payment, the non-public information is disclosed to a third-party mail service supplier that has a contract with Canada Post and disperses the mail on behalf of the companies.
Ann Cavoukian is the chief director of the Global Policy and Security by Design Centre, and former Ontario privateness commissioner. She says Canada Post’s dealing with of non-public info is “absolutely outrageous.”
She says all management over people’ information was misplaced as soon as it was handed over to the third celebration.
“That’s the problem. You don’t know what it might be used for,” Cavoukian informed Global News.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
