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LETTER: Outdated privacy laws don’t protect personal information

Canada’s election is just around the corner and I’m concerned that our political parties are not protecting the personal information they gather from us. I believe that they should be made subject to federal privacy laws.
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Canada’s election is just around the corner and I’m concerned that our political parties are not protecting the personal information they gather from us. I believe that they should be made subject to federal privacy laws.

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Political parties should follow the same rules companies have to – it’s only fair. Privacy matters regardless of who we vote for. In this election, I believe all the parties should commit to protecting our privacy and I’ll be looking to see if they do when I make my voting decision.

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Our current rules mean that political parties are operating as though there are no laws or oversight governing how they collect, use or store our data – and no requirements for disclosure if sensitive political information has been hacked or breached.

Political parties should be made subject to PIPEDA (the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act).

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To ensure the trust of voters, political parties should make a commitment to change this in their party platforms this election. Politicians shouldn’t exempt themselves from the same privacy laws they make companies follow.

Our privacy, our democracy and our electoral process are at risk due to outdated privacy laws that fail to properly protect people in Canada.

Curby Klaibert

Saanich