New video sets out action plan to tackle Canadian privacy deficit, as hundreds of thousands continue to speak up against Bill C-51

Plan lays out tangible steps for federal government to take to restore Canadians’ digital privacy

“Privacy and Bill C-51 are shaping up to be huge issues in the upcoming federal election with hundreds of thousands of Canadians demanding a full repeal the government's controversial bill,” said Laura Tribe, OpenMedia's Digital Rights Specialist. “But today Canadians are sending a positive message about how we can strengthen privacy in Canada. It’s time for politicians of all stripes to commit to implementing these common sense proposals.”

Key findings of Canada’s Privacy Plan include:

• 94.1% of Canadians want an all-party Parliamentary Committee to conduct a thorough review of Canada’s existing oversight mechanisms, and make recommendations for improvements.

• 93.8% said a warrant should be required for government agencies to access Canadians’ sensitive, personal information.

• 87.8% want to empower an independent, arms-length body to oversee spy agencies.

• 94.7% want rules to prevent telecom companies from handing their customers’ personal information to the government or other third parties.

• 84.2% want to prevent spy agencies collecting personal information that people post on Facebook.

The National Observer, iPolitics, Rabble.ca, and The Tyee are OpenMedia’s official media partners for the launch of this video.

Canada’s Privacy Plan is available at PrivacyPlan.ca, and as a PDF, or you can view the high-level recommendations here. You can view the video at https://PrivacyPlan.ca/video.

About OpenMedia

OpenMedia is a network of people and organizations working to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy.

OpenMedia has joined with over 75 major organizations and over two dozen academic experts to form the Protect Our Privacy Coalition, which is calling for effective legal measures to protect the privacy of every resident of Canada.

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Contact

Laura Tribe

Digital Rights Specialist

+1 (647) 523-2921

[email protected]