One-of-a-kind, Privacy by Design Ambassador Program recognizes individuals
and organizations who make a difference

Commissioner Cavoukian announces an international roster of those whose work helps to protect personal information - starting with Ontarians

TORONTO, Sept. 8 /CNW/ - The inaugural group of Privacy by Design Ambassadors was announced today by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Dr. Ann Cavoukian.

The Ambassadors program was created to publically acknowledge the efforts that individuals and organizations in various parts of the world have made to implement privacy protection through Privacy by Design (PbD), a concept conceived by the Commissioner back in the '90s.

"Those named as Individual PbD Ambassadors are notable for their consistent efforts to educate organizations about the need to build privacy into their technology and business practices," said Commissioner Cavoukian. "Organizational PbD Ambassadors are businesses or public sector organizations that have embedded the principles into their day-to-day operations."

The Commissioner developed PbD after recognizing that the growing sophistication and interconnectedness of various information and communication technologies had led to an explosion in the volume of personal information being collected - leading her to believe that the public can no longer rely solely upon compliance with regulatory frameworks to effectively safeguard their personal information.

PbD is based on embedding privacy into the design of information technology and networked infrastructure; accountable business practices; and physical design.

"With the ease that vast amounts of personal information can otherwise be collected and potentially misused," said the Commissioner, "companies and government organizations can't treat privacy as an afterthought - they can't bolt it on after the fact - it has to be built in from the outset, as the default option."

PbD shatters the zero-sum paradigm which trades off privacy in favour of security, or other functionalities. It is doubly-enabling or positive-sum ("win-win") in nature, demonstrating that it is indeed possible to protect privacy, without compromising other legitimate operational requirements.

The concept of Privacy by Design has attracted the attention of officials on a number of continents. Both Viviane Reding (Vice-President, Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, European Commission) and Peter Hustinx (European Data Protection Supervisor) have spoken of how PbD will increase consumer trust in information and communication technologies, thereby accelerating their adoption. Hustinx has also noted that PbD is an approach which should be incorporated in the framework of revisions to EU data protection legislation. In the United States, a series of FTC-sponsored privacy roundtables identified what FTC Chairman Jon Liebowitz described as the three key principles of online privacy. The first one on his list was Privacy by Design.

Commissioner Cavoukian, recognizing that decisions made anywhere in the world can have an impact on the privacy of Ontarians, has accordingly chosen to acknowledge an international collection of PbD Ambassadors whose efforts to protect privacy can have an impact far beyond their shores.

Among the 27 people being appointed as Individual PbD Ambassadors are:

    
    -   Larry Keating - President and CEO of No Panic Computing, for his
        long-term commitment to PbD as an Ontario business leader, speaker
        and author;
    -   Dr. Karl Martin - President of KMKP Engineering, who has presented
        his privacy-enhancing technology, Secure Visual Object Coding, at two
        of the Commissioner's PbD Challenge events;
    -   Nandini Jolly - President, CEO and Co-Founder of CryptoMill
        Technologies, which features data storage systems that help their
        customers practice PbD.;
    -   Peter Hustinx - European Data Protection Supervisor and key proponent
        of embedding the concept of PbD into emerging European privacy
        legislation.
    

Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) has been appointed an Organizational PbD Ambassador, joining privacy and data protection research firm Nymity in that category. Infoway is a federally-funded not-for-profit corporation whose primary role is to invest in projects that accelerate the development and adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). Infoway - by creating the "EHR Privacy and Security Conceptual Architecture" and making privacy impact assessments a condition of investment - has made tangible contributions to advancing the practice of Privacy by Design.

See the full list of PbD Ambassadors, as well as nomination guidelines, at the Information and Privacy Commissioner's new Privacy by Design website, www.privacybydesign.ca.

For further information: Media Contact: Bob Spence, Communications Co-ordinator, Direct line: 416-326-3939, Cell phone: [phone], Toll free: 1-800-387-0073, [email protected]