Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Privacy

Canada Proposes Major Fines on Firms That Violate Privacy Laws

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday presented a draft law that would impose major fines on companies that violate privacy law by misusing the personal data of their customers.

The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday presented a draft law that would impose major fines on companies that violate privacy law by misusing the personal data of their customers.

The fines would max out at five percent of the company’s revenue, or CAN$25 million (USD $19.1 million), whichever is higher, said Navdeep Bains, the minister of innovation, science and industry.

Trudeau said the new law would stipulate the highest fines imposed among Group of Seven nations for privacy violations.

He said the Digital Charter Implementation Act would give “more control to Canadians and more transparency about how companies handle their personal information.”

If the law is adopted, Canadians would henceforth be allowed to request the destruction of their personal data, the government said in a statement.

Data collection consent forms would have to be written in an easily understandable way, and not in a lengthy document laden with legalese, it said.

Canada’s privacy commissioner would be able to order a company to stop collecting data or using personal information.

In recent years, several cyberattacks targeting the data of millions of Canadians have occurred.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

This past summer, about 10,000 accounts belonging to those using online government services were hacked.

The data of about 15 million customers — just shy of half of Canada’s population of 38 million people — was stolen from medical lab LifeLabs in November 2019.

Also last year, Canadian bank Desjardins saw the personal data of about 4.2 million clients stolen by an employee and given to a third party.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Discover strategies for vendor selection, integration to minimize redundancies, and maximizing ROI from your cybersecurity investments. Gain actionable insights to ensure your stack is ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

Register

Dive into critical topics such as incident response, threat intelligence, and attack surface management. Learn how to align cyber resilience plans with business objectives to reduce potential impacts and secure your organization in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Register

People on the Move

Cyber exposure management firm Armis has promoted Alex Mosher to President.

Software giant Atlassian has named David Cross as its new CISO.

Dan Pagel has been named the new CEO of risk management and remediation firm Brinqa.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.