Privacy is a right that all young people should enjoy, no matter where they live. With today’s world being so different than it was 20 years ago, this is something they may not think much about. Today, young people are videotaped by security cameras almost everywhere they go. They are asked for their postal code or driver’s license number when they buy a pair of jeans. They can instant message, update their statuses, download music, talk to friends on Facebook and play games on their computers with people all around the world. Twenty years ago, if someone wanted to get in touch with you they had to phone you or send you a postcard!

It is so easy for young people to overlook their privacy rights and why they’re so important. And it’s easy to forget about the risks that are out there if they don’t protect their personal information. These risks can range from nuisance (all those marketers who are looking for people to target their ads to) to serious (from the people on the Internet who are looking for identities to steal, to the predators who are looking for victims). Many of them also tend to forget that when they post comments, photos and videos, online, that information is public and permanent and almost impossible to remove.

So today, on National Child Day, take a minute and remind the young people in your life, in your community, that privacy is their right. Have them look around youthprivacy.ca and click through the pages. Encourage them to find information about how they can have fun online while protecting this valuable basic human right.

Young people today are using the Internet to communicate in numbers that rival the telephone. The resolution stresses that while many young people recognize the risks associated with their online activities, they often lack the experience, technical knowledge and tools to mitigate those risks. In addition, they are sometimes unaware of their own legal rights. The resolution was cosponsored by data protection authorities (DPAs) from New Zealand, France, Ireland, Berlin and the United Kingdom.

The DPAs agree that a global commitment to education and increasing awareness is needed to ensure that children and young people around the world have access to a safe online environment respectful of their privacy. They are also calling on industry to take greater responsibility for protecting user privacy in the online environments they create for children.

This resolution is one more important step towards protecting our children’s online privacy. Earlier this year, in Canada, the federal, provincial and territorial privacy commissioners and ombudspersons issued a joint resolution expressing their commitment to work together to improve the state of online privacy for children and young people. In addition, the provincial Commissioners responsible for privacy are working with teachers and Ministries of Education to build information and advice into the materials presented to Canadian students. Further inroads are being made internationally as well. Ireland and the Asia-Pacific countries held video contests for kids around the issue of privacy; Spain released a booklet on privacy for parents and children; and Norway has created books and videos on the subject.

RFIDs have been presented as a tremendous technological advancement that will help companies large and small track their inventory, expedite shipments and protect goods in a retail environment. By design, they are also tracking devices. This can have an effect on personal privacy if RFID technology is linked to information that can identify an individual.

Two distinct perspectives were presented. Dr. Kathryn Albrecht, the Director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering, delivered a critical broadside against radio tags and their consumer applications. On the other hand, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, argued the benefits of building privacy guarantees into technologies such as RFIDs. She focused specifically on her Office’s work and the development of the IPC Privacy Guidelines for RFID Information Systems.

We have transferred both Dr. Albrecht and Dr. Cavoukian’s presentations to video.google.ca. They are embedded below as well.

In addition, the Conference research papers and presentations on RFIDs are available online.

The Secretary of Homeland Security spoke about the tension between privacy and security, and questioned whether every step taken to strengthen national security must come at the expense of privacy? A few more details are available on the Secretary’s own blog.

Today, we finally uploaded his 30 minute speech. It’s available on video.google.ca, and we’ve embedded it below as well.

Speaking in French, he touched upon how Google faced different expectations to protect personal information and privacy from consumers and advocates in different countries and jurisdictions around the world.

As could be expected, he also argued for the creation of global privacy standards. Mr. Fleischer also emphasized that some data needs to be retained in order to personalize the services offered by Google and other online applications – and emphasized that users find the personalization of services extremely valuable and convenient.

The video is divided into two parts, and is only available in French. Sorry.

“Chertoff came to us and said “this is my world, this is my vision, what are you prepared to do about it?”

We have posted the video of Professor Geist’s speech on YouTube, and you can view it below.

Videos are posted in the language of the original speaker.

Reporters at our conference this morning had an opportunity to hear from the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, about the  relationship between privacy and security. His main conclusion seemed to be that the two seemingly contrary principles could build on each other.

“I actually believe that many of the measures we take serve to enhance security and serve to enhance privacy,” said Chertoff, the keynote speaker at a major conference of privacy commissioners and experts from around the world in Montreal. Canadian Press, September 26, 2007

Here’s how Mr. Chertoff thinks this could work:

By collecting little pieces of information from everyone that aren’t overly private or invasive to gather, security officials can quickly target potential threats and avoid subjecting all travellers to intensive scrutiny or searches. CanWest News Service, September 26, 2007

Update: there’s more discussion of his proposal on Michael Chertoff’s own blog.

We’ve shoehorned over 600 delegates into the conference rooms at the Sheraton Centre in Montreal. Our day began with speeches from:

• Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner
• the Honourable Peter Milliken, the Speaker of the House of Commons
• Secretary Michael Chertoff, the Secretary for Homeland Security

Unfortunately, these speeches won’t be available online – but we may have video of Secretary Chertoff available later in the week.

At the moment, we’ve got the first of many high-powered plenary sessions going on. Warren Allmand, Bruce Schneier, Jacob Kohnstamm and Barry Steinhardt.

And the list goes on. Too bad you’re not here.

Over 40 countries will be represented, and nearly 600 delegates. One of the speakers will be Peter Fleischer, the Global Privacy Counsel for Google.

In recent days, Mr. Fleischer and Google have made proposals for the development of a global privacy standard. His suggestion is to begin with the framework put in place by APEC members.

Mr. Fleischer has posted the text of his initial speech proposing these standards, originally delivered to a UNESCO sub-committee meeting in Strasbourg. (The Need for Global Privacy Standards)

He has also posted the text of an op/ed prepared for Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, in support of the initiative. (Eric Schmidt on Global Privacy Standards)

Ann Cavoukian, the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, has posted some additional history on the matter as a comment to this last post.

Unfortunately, all these documents are only available in English.

This will be a subject of much discussion – both this week and in months to come.