Commissioner’s Blog

One of the most profound and lasting effects of the pandemic has been the accelerated digitization of our lives as part of our new normal. In the IPC’s annual report I look back over my office’s activities throughout 2021 and reflect on how this work has positioned us to serve Ontarians diffe...

Over a decade ago, at the 35th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners (as it was then called), the community of international data protection regulators walked away with a key take-home message: “be selective to be effective.” If that old adage was applicable th...

Every once in a while, there are privacy investigation decisions that stand out because of their precedent setting nature. One such decision is PHIPA Decision 175, which details an investigation into the sale of de-identified data by a health information custodian to a third-party corporation. My...

Data protection authorities around the world recognize Data Privacy Day every January 28 as a way of raising public awareness about the importance of privacy and data protection rights. In case you missed it, this past Friday the IPC continued its tradition of hosting an annual Privacy Day event,...

How many of us have accidentally pressed “send” on an email to the wrong person?  It happened to me several years ago when my flight was cancelled and I sent a late-night email to my husband from the back of a very dark cab, letting him know I was on my way home from the airport. I signed, �...

Throughout the past year, we continued to be tested in our ability to develop and persevere in the face of change and uncertainty, inflicted by a brutal and unrelenting pandemic. Our 2021 annual report, due out next spring, will lay out all the facts and figures of the year — numbers of cases, ...

The health care landscape shifted dramatically in March 2020 with the onset of the pandemic. A recent study estimates that outpatient virtual care visits in Ontario increased by nearly 70 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. While many of the tools used to provide virtual health care have been arou...

While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down almost every aspect of our society and has grounded to a near-halt many sectors of our economy, cybercriminals remained busier than ever and show no signs of abating. As Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) noted in their most recent annua...

September 27 to October 3 is a special time, celebrated across the country, to raise awareness about access rights and freedom of information. I’ll be joining my fellow commissioners in a series of activities throughout the week to put the spotlight on access to information and I hope you’ll ...

Children use the internet for so many different things these days. They play games, watch shows and videos, visit websites, listen to music, use apps, engage in social networks, chat with family and friends, and even do schoolwork online. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, kids’ use of th...