Loading ...Michael Geist: The government’s stunning new assault on Canadians’ privacy
Political parties want to exempt themselves from privacy safeguards with anti-privacy measures buried in “affordability measures” bill
Fresh off burying lawful access provisions that grant access to internet subscriber information without a warrant in the border bill, the government has now quietly inserted provisions that exempt political parties from the application of privacy protections in Bill C-4, an “affordability measures” bill.
The provisions, which come toward the end of the bill, are deemed to be in force as of May 31, 2000, retroactively exempting the parties from any privacy violations that may date back decades. The provisions mean the parties will be exempted from the privacy standards faced by private sector organizations across the country, with no real consequences for privacy violations and no effective oversight over the use of Canadians’ personal information.