In another reminder of the slippery slope of privacy rights in the age of social media, Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart came out swinging last week against Google Inc.
Along with her counterparts from nine other countries, Stoddart released a letter urging the Internet search giant to do more to uphold privacy principles.
In particular, she and the other privacy watchdogs took the company to task over the recent launch of its Google Buzz social networking service. Concerns centred on the fact the new Buzz product automatically connected people to their Gmail contacts rather than having them do so themselves.
Google has since responded to those complaints by allowing its users to establish privacy controls, but Stoddart remains concerned nevertheless.
“We were disturbed by your recent rollout of the Google Buzz social networking application, which betrayed a disappointing disregard for fundamental privacy norms and laws,” the letter to Google stated. “Moreover, this was not the first time you have failed to take adequate account of privacy considerations when launching new services.”
The problems, the watchdogs noted, should have been “readily apparent” to the company.
It’s tempting to conclude the concerns are somewhat of an exaggeration.
After all, the company has made changes in response to the problems. At the same time, there’s no evidence of any serious consequences as a result of the Buzz application. So are we creating a problem that doesn’t exist?
Not really. As Stoddart and her colleagues made clear, the issue goes well beyond Google. As social networking becomes more ubiquitous, Stoddart, a lawyer, has made it one of her priorities to educate Canadians about the need to protect their privacy online.
In the meantime, as you’ll discover on page 13 of this week’s Law Times, Stoddart has also suggested it might be time to reform Canada’s privacy laws to better align them with technological change.
Stoddart’s comments are fitting for someone nearing the end of her seven-year term as privacy commissioner. During her time in the role, she has had to balance her dual functions as both regulator and educator.
While a few critics have said she hasn’t been aggressive enough in cracking down on companies that violate the rules, last week’s letter involving Google showed Stoddart will get tough when she needs to be while continuing to inform the public.
In the meantime, she’s risen to international prominence for her willingness to take companies to task. Let’s hope whoever succeeds her continues to build on the good work she’s been doing.
-Glenn Kauth
