Canada’s privacy watchdog launches investigation into Facebook

Canada’s privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into Facebook to look into whether the social media company may have violated the privacy rights of Canadian users by improperly sharing their private account data with a political consultancy company working on U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign.

“We have received a complaint against Facebook in relation to allegations involving Cambridge Analytica and have therefore opened a formal investigation,” Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said in a statement.

“The first step will be to confirm with the company whether the personal information of Facebook users in Canada was affected.”

• Facebook data breach draws Canadian privacy concern

The investigation follows a series of media reports alleging that private online information belonging to nearly 50 million Americans was obtained by a company working on Trump’s election campaign, allowing it to manipulate public opinion.

‘Important privacy questions’

The investigation will examine Facebook’s compliance with Canada’s federal private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the privacy commissioner said.

“The allegations we’ve seen in media reports raise extremely important privacy questions,” Therrien said. “The digital world, and social media in particular, have become entrenched in our daily lives and people want their rights to be respected.”

Cooperation with British investigation

Canada will be cooperating with the UK privacy commissioner, who also launched an investigation into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica following media reports that the company may have used the same methods to target the British public during the Brexit referendum campaign.

“We will remain in contact with the UK office and will work with other data protection authorities as appropriate,” Therrien said. “Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that the privacy rights of Canadian Facebook users are protected.”

Facebook says it has launched a separate investigation into whether Cambridge Analytica violated its contractual obligations and passed on private data it had obtained from Facebook to a third party instead of deleting it.

“Several days ago, we received reports that, contrary to the certifications we were given, not all data was deleted. We are moving aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims. If true, this is another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made,” said the social media company’s vice-president and deputy general counsel Paul Grewal.

Addressing shortcomings in Canadian legislation

Canadian legislation requires meaningful and informed consent for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of commercial activities, Therrien said.

Under the law, companies are also accountable for how they manage and safeguard the personal information in their care and must ensure that it is not disclosed inappropriately, he said.

However, neither PIPEDA nor Canada’s federal public sector privacy law, the Privacy Act, applies to political parties, Therrien warned. His office has asked Parliament to consider regulating the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by political parties to address the shortcomings in Canada’s privacy regime, he said.

“If true, the allegations raise a major challenge for privacy rights,” Therrien said. “We have recommended strengthening Canada’s private sector law in order to help strengthen consumer trust.”

Canadian spy agencies to look into private date security

Acting Democratic Institutions Minister Scott Brison said that he has already asked Canada’s electronic spy agency, the Communications Security Establishment, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to look into whether the private data of Canadians is safe.

Speaking on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics Tuesday, Brison also said that while Canada has strong privacy laws, he would be willing to consider changes to strengthen them.

With files from CBC News