You're entitled to privacy鈥� even online
Photo: Ann Cavoukian, distinguished expert-in-residence at Ryerson鈥檚 Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence, spoke at TRSM on September 24.
We all know that companies are collecting our personal information online. What we sometimes forget to ask is: should they be? On September 24, the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre partnered with Ryerson鈥檚 Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence for an event that explored the ethics of online data collection, and the importance of reclaiming our digital privacy.
The event, titled 鈥淎.I., Privacy & Ethics,鈥� featured a keynote by Ann Cavoukian, senior fellow at the Ted Rogers School of Management and distinguished expert-in-residence at the Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence. In addition to serving as Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario from 1997 to 2014, Cavoukian created the idea of 鈥�,鈥� now recognized internationally as the gold standard for privacy and data protection. In her talk, she emphasized that privacy is a right, not a privilege.
鈥淧rivacy is not about secrecy,鈥� said Cavoukian. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about having something to hide. That could have been the model of the Gestapo police in the Third Reich鈥攂ecause, presumably, if you鈥檙e a law-abiding citizen, what鈥檚 the problem with the state knowing everything about you? What do you have to hide?
鈥淓xcuse me鈥攖hat鈥檚 not what freedom is about. Freedom is about personal control on the part of the individual鈥攖hat you get to decide how you want your information used.鈥�
She also warned against the tendency towards 鈥渮ero-sum, either/or thinking鈥� that frequently dominates debates about online privacy.
鈥淭he traditional mindset of law enforcement is security and public safety at all costs鈥�versus privacy. No鈥攊t鈥檚 not versus privacy. You want open, democratic societies? You need both. I want you to give me privacy and law enforcement. You have probable cause? You think a crime may have been committed? You get a warrant, and be my guest.鈥�
Online citizens may be increasingly resigned to the loss of privacy as a fact of life, but research and public opinion polls show that they鈥檙e still not happy about it. With public trust of governments and corporations at an all-time low, Cavoukian believes that prioritizing privacy is not only good ethics鈥攊t鈥檚 also good business.
鈥淲hat it says is: 鈥榃e cannot use your information for any purpose, other than the primary purpose you intended.鈥� 鈥� The beauty of that model is, it builds trusted business relationships with your customers鈥攁nd then, if you do ask them for permission for secondary use down the road, invariably your customers say yes, because you鈥檝e built trust with them.鈥�
鈥淧ositive-sum is win-win; zero-sum is win-lose; but zero-sum is the model that is prevalent in society. They think you can only do one versus the other.鈥�
Cavoukian outlined the seven key principles of Privacy by Design: protective not reactive; privacy as the default setting; privacy embedded into design; full functionality; end-to-end security; visibility and transparency; and respect for user privacy (鈥渒eep it user-centric鈥�).
She also pointed to encouraging developments: that Privacy by Design was unanimously adopted as an international framework in 2010 by the International Assembly of Data Protection Commissioners; that Privacy by Design was incorporated into the European Union鈥檚 General Data Protection Regulation; and that Canadian Parliament鈥檚 Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics titled its 2017 report 鈥淭owards privacy by design.鈥� Ryerson鈥檚 Privacy by Design Centre of Excellence is also thriving, with an online course through the and a Privacy by Design Certification program.
While some companies and governments will be reluctant to cede control, Cavoukian stressed that privacy is a competitive advantage. She concluded by quoting a colleague who told her, 鈥溾�業f people are smart, they鈥檒l lead with Privacy by Design 鈥� but if they mess up, they鈥檙e going to have a regulator at the door, and that鈥檚 the last thing that you want.鈥� So, avoid that at all cost, embed privacy proactively, and make it a win-win.鈥�
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