Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart says the complaints-based system for regulating privacy breaches may not be enough and that her office may need the power to levy fines to get companies to pay attention. The commissioner discussed the priorities of her office as House of Commons ethics committee prepares to conduct a five-year, statutory review of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). “I am increasingly of the view that we may need stronger powers to be an effective privacy guardian for Canadians. Canada has become one of the few major countries where the data protection regulator lacks the ability to issue orders and impose fines,” Stoddart said. She said the Federal Court can seek damages from companies that violate PIPEDA, but the court has set a high threshold for damages and invoked them only once in the 10 years that PIPEDA has been in force.
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