What We Are Doing — and What Else You Can Do
The data breach in Alberta, in which nearly 3 million Albertans had their personal information leaked by a political party,1 has brought home just how unacceptable the status quo is to many Canadians — and now we’re speaking up!
Spearheaded by the Voter Privacy Coalition in Alberta and across Canada, this campaign has included an open letter to Alberta Premier Smith;2 a federal civil society letter supported by more than 35 organizations and experts;3 and Parliamentary Petition e-7237, which has more than 9,000 online signatures4 and 9,000+ physical signatures, and will soon be delivered to the House of Commons. But this is just a start: we need your help to keep building momentum!
Federal political parties collect and use deeply personal information about all of us without being subject to the same privacy laws and protections as businesses and public institutions. Unlike these organizations, political parties operate without independent privacy oversight, meaningful penalties for misuse, or basic privacy rights like the ability to see, correct, or delete the information they hold about you.5
Recently, the Alberta government has acknowledged our concerns and has said it is “exploring options”. Also, the federal government said that “in a healthy democracy, there is always more work to do.”6 That’s what you hear when you’re starting to break through, but you’re nowhere near done yet!
People in Canada expect political parties to follow the same privacy rules as everyone else. A national IPSOS poll shows strong public rejection of the status quo that allows parties to set their own privacy rules and we have to make our voices heard:7
- 80% of Canadians say political parties should follow the same privacy rules as businesses and public institutions
- 84% support the right to access their personal data held by parties
- 85% support the right to correct or delete that data
- 83% want strong penalties for misuse or breaches
Political parties should not be above basic privacy rules, and our data shouldn't be political currency between them and data brokers! You deserve the right to know what data is collected about you, correct inaccuracies, and have control over your personal information.
Together, we can demand voter privacy and accountability — write to your MP and ask them to support Petition e-7237 this fall to bring political parties under privacy law in Canada!