I encourage people to take a look at the following article by fellow Federal Task Force on Spam member Michael Geist:
Privacy breaches expose flaws in law
January 22, 2007
MICHAEL GEIST
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/173418
-or-
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1626/159/
Privacy took centre stage in Canada late last week as TJX Cos., the parent company of retail giants Winners and HomeSense, disclosed that as many as 2 million Canadian credit cards may have been accessed by computer hackers. Fewer than 24 hours later, the CIBC revealed that account information for 470,000 customers of its subsidiary Talvest Mutual Funds had been lost when a computer file went missing while in transit between company offices.
These two incidents, which follow a steady stream of similar security breaches in the United States, highlight the fragility of sensitive, personal information that is entrusted to Canadian businesses as well as the inadequacy of current Canadian privacy legislation.
Business groups have cautioned against privacy law reforms, yet as the risk of identity theft grows, the calls for change are likely to become more vocal.
