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Last week, an important resolution brought forward by our office was passed at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Strasbourg, France. The resolution calls for an international effort to protect the privacy of children online.

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.

As we mentioned several weeks ago, Michael Chertoff spoke at the opening session of the 29th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners.

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.

Dr. Ann Cavoukian, the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, recently spoke to the Computer Science Club at the University of Waterloo. (video available in several formats)

Dr. Cavoukian has argued that software developers need to build privacy concerns right into their work, and her speech is receiving favourable attention online:

“… There’s something incredibly refreshing about hearing a high-ranking government official say things like, “Privacy is integral to freedom. You cannot have a free and democratic society without privacy. When a state morphs from a democracy into a totalitarian regime, the first thread to unravel is privacy.”…” (BoingBoing)

“… Privacy is really important, and watching this talk makes me realize, I have not being doing my part as a software developer to respect users privacy. Hell I log way too much information, just to make debugging a little easier on the off chance I have to debug it in production. I’d encourage all software developers out there to watch this talk, and take its message to heart. …” (Slashdot comments)

Marie Shroff, the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand, recently spoke to the growing challenge facing privacy advocates, and the public in general, in the face of technological innovations that may erode our personal protections:

“So what do I mean by “privacy pollution”? It’s an idea I see as having some similarity to air pollution: where small blots of contamination build to form blankets of smog. In themselves, they are relatively minor – specks of soot or puffs of smoke – but in combination the effect can be overpowering. Like environmental contaminants, privacy breaches run from serious even criminal, across to minor annoyance…

The key thing is the fact that bothersome material accumulates. Yes, it is pretty insignificant to receive a piece of unwanted SPAM or yet another telemarketing call, but most people receive quite a few unsolicited and unwanted phone calls, letters and emails each week…

The overall effect is that these tiny but insidious measures combine together to shape our behaviour. Together, they contribute to a climate where private space, thoughts and choices are encroached upon and subtly eroded. We must strive to find some way not only of limiting the impact that this has on each of us, but also to find spaces in which we can be free. “

A excerpt from speech delivered by Marie Shroff, the Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand, at the Forum on Privacy and Technology in the 21st Century in Wellington.