About Staffing : Privacy Laws Don’t Protect Us from OurselvesCanada has two federal privacy laws, the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Sharlene Massie |
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Individuals are also protected by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that sets out ground rules for how private sector organizations may collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities.
If the information is not necessary, the company can’t demand it. The laws protect employees and consumers from potentially fraudulent activity. Now we have the various issues of privacy laws surrounding the Internet. Anyone who reads my articles or watches me on other forms of media knows I don’t support the misuse of time associated with Internet social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. So today’s rant is that we, as a society, have spent billions on protecting our privacy rights and our identities just to turn around and post every detail of our lives online for every idiot and criminal to see.
So, let me get this straight - we don’t want to reveal our real birth date or whether we smoke to our associates, but it’s okay to post on Facebook that you are leaving for vacation for two weeks and no one will be home to water the plants. Oh, hey, while we are at it, why don’t we post that our grandmother just left us a windfall, and we keep a ton of cash in the cookie jar. And, just in case the criminals don’t have enough to lure them in, post that you put a house key under the rock in the front yard next to the apple tree.
Authorities warn that social networking sights are a haven for criminals, but go ahead and post your information anyway. The laws don’t protect you when you post it yourself. The same can be said for those looking to keep information away from their bosses. Users might as well let their employers know that they will be calling in sick or hung over at work because it is their birthday and they will be out partying. Some people are fearful to give their address to people they know because they might use it for something, like sending a card at Christmas, but go ahead and post your personal details on the Web for the world to see. You may as well take out a full page in the paper, or a billboard, and let everyone know how much money you have in our wallet, and that we will be walking down a dark alley in the middle of the night alone. It’s the same thing.
Sarcasm aside, protecting our personal identities is a big deal. The Canadian government has gone over the top protecting our right to privacy by designing tough laws, but no law can protect us from ourselves and our poor judgment. Be smart about the information you make public, and think twice about what you post on those public social sites. You may just find yourself appearing as a victim of crime in the newspaper one day.
-- Sharlene Massie is the C.E.O. of About Staffing Ltd., a dynamic personnel agency specializing in direct-hire and temporary placements. Questions for Sharlene? Visit the About Staffing website at (www.aboutstaffing.com), and click on the link under the Sun logo. This article may be reproduced or transmitted if done so in its entirety, including this copyright line: Copyright 2008, by About Staffing Ltd., all rights reserved.
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