Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, urged businesses last Thursday to make sure they have proper systems in place to keep information safe.
Stoddart conveyed this message last Tuesday on Canada’s Data Privacy Day 2010.
“Companies today have to take steps to secure their customers’ personal information like never before,” Stoddart said. “In the past, businesses had to ensure that their customers’ name and address information, and in some cases credit card and billing information, was protected. Today, an increasing number of companies are providing technology and tools for their customers to provide increasing amounts of personal information online.”
Under a mandate by Parliament, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is to serve as an ombudsman, advocate and guardian of privacy and the protection of personal information rights for Canadians.
Data Privacy Day is an effort put together by non-profit organization, The Privacy Projects. The day is described as being an “international celebration of the dignity of the individual expressed through personal information.”