Businesses that don鈥檛 have strong privacy controls risk losing their competitive advantage in today鈥檚 increasingly privacy conscious marketplace, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien warns as countries around the world mark Data Privacy Day, January 28th.
But it鈥檚 a message that isn鈥檛 just for major companies. It鈥檚 for the thousands of smaller businesses operating across Canada in tiny towns and bustling metropolises from coast, to coast, to coast. In fact, 98 per cent of companies in Canada employ fewer than 100 people.
鈥淚 understand that smaller businesses face many compliance pressures on top of day-to-day operational demands, but strong privacy practices are not just good for customers; they鈥檙e good for the bottom line,鈥� says Commissioner Therrien.
鈥淐anadians are telling us that they prefer to do business with companies that have good privacy practices.鈥�
About a third of all private sector privacy complaints under Canada鈥檚 federal private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, appear to involve smaller businesses.
Landlords, hotels, real estate agencies, collection agencies, travel agencies, independent local retailers and financial planners are among the types of businesses in the community that are at the centre of these complaints.
Commissioner Therrien says businesses often don鈥檛 realize that what they鈥檙e doing could create unnecessary risks for privacy.
Many grievances about smaller businesses involve things such as the improper use or sharing of a person鈥檚 information. This can be as simple as a misdirected letter, he says, and as serious as an employee snooping into a client鈥檚 personal file.
鈥淪maller businesses need to ask themselves what proactive measures they are taking to safeguard the privacy of their customers and to mitigate data breaches,鈥� says Commissioner Therrien.
鈥淎s we mark Data Privacy Day, I would encourage all businesses to use this opportunity to take stock of, and strengthen where necessary, their privacy practices. My office is here to help.鈥�
Key steps to get on the right privacy track include:
鈥� Limit the amount of customer information you collect to what is necessary for the purposes of delivering a product or service.
鈥� Make it clear to customers in an easy-to-understand privacy policy why you need and how you鈥檒l handle their personal information.
鈥� Know exactly what you collect, how it鈥檚 stored, who has access to it, how long it鈥檚 kept and when and how it鈥檚 discarded.
鈥� Train staff on the importance of privacy protection.
鈥� Don鈥檛 collect sensitive information, such as health or financial data, if you don鈥檛 have to.
鈥� Respond to customer requests for access to their personal information and designate a point person to respond to customer questions about privacy.
For more tools on privacy protection, visit www.priv.gc.ca/business.
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