Survey of Canadian Attitudes About Privacy

Yesterday, the federal Privacy Commissioner released a major survey of Canadians' attitudes towards the protection of privacy.

"The study reveals that most Canadians believe that neither the government nor businesses take their responsibility to protect their personal information very seriously. Only 14 per cent of Canadians believe that the federal government takes its responsibility to protect personal information very seriously and only 11 per cent are confident that businesses take this responsibility very seriously."

Among the other findings of the poll conducted by the Ekos Research firm:

• Canadians are very concerned about the government’s transfer of individual personal information across borders, by outsourcing works to companies in the U.S.
• Only 50 per cent of those polled say they have enough information to know the privacy implications of new technologies
• Canadians want to be informed by companies about the privacy implications of products or services they buy

The full EKOS report entitled Revisiting the Privacy Landscape a Year Later can be found on the website of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner also tabled its annual report to Parliament in June. One of the main focuses of the report was the concern over the transfer of private information about Canadians to companies in other countries.