Privacy Regulations in Canada
The Electronic
Commerce branch of Industry
Canada is led by Director General Richard Simpson. He is responsible for
the development and implementation of departmental strategies for e-commerce. The goal of this Federal organization is to
ensure trust and confidence for electronic commerce in Canada. According to the Electronic Commerce Branch, for e-commerce
to become a integral part of the Canadian economy, a degree of trust and confidence is essential from businesses and customers.
To support the development of this trust, the Canadian federal government has provides policies, legislation and interpretation
of business rules on "privacy protection, online security and appropriate Internet content." (Electronic Commerce Branch,
2006)
On January 1, 2004, the
Personal
Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) was established in Canada. The PIPEDA's strengths
as a federally-legislated act lie in its sweeping coverage of "any personal information that is collected, used, or disclosed
within the private sector." (Trites, et al, 2006, p. 267) The federal government's Privacy Act, first legislated in 1983,
covers personal information gathered, used, or released by the Canadian government or its agencies (Trites, et al., 2006).
In fact, the US Department of Commerce (2006) states that the Canadian Act is strict and appears to be modeled from the stringent
requirements of the EU Data Protection Act.
In addition, each Canadian province
and territory adheres to its own Access
and Privacy Laws and Commissions. The link provided lists each province and territory and their
related Acts. It is important to note that these Acts cannot lessen the powers of the federally-legislated Act, but can go
beyond it to be more strict.
Privacy Regulations in the United States
The governing body on privacy regulations
in the United States falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland
Security. According to their official website, the Privacy
Office "is the first statutorily required Privacy Office at any federal
agency whose mission is to minimize the impact on the individual’s privacy, particularly the individual’s personal
information and dignity, while achieving the mission of the Department of Homeland Security." (United States Department of
Homeland Security, 2006).
The
Electronic Communications Privacy Act contains similar regulations as the Canadian Act, and covers all
states and countries under the jurisdiction of the American government. Yet the validity of the Act has come under fire as
of late after information was leaked stating that the US government has decided
to maintain a massive telephone records database in the interests of enhancing homeland security.
Internet Security Regulations
The research conducted has found that,
Internet security regulations related to business transactions fall within the jurisdiction of the federal, provincial, territorial,
and state departments who are responsible for privacy and e-business. However, this does not prevent individuals, businesses,
and organizations to create their own policies and regulations pertaining to Internet security. As stated in our text by Trites
et al. (2006), all businesses that operate in Canada are bound by the PIPEDA regulations. Due
to this regulation business policies can require a variety of protocols, including:
