The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner oversees the information and privacy practices of public bodies and private organizations in British Columbia.
The Commissioner has the legal authority to investigate programs, policies and information systems in order to assess compliance with B.C.’s access and privacy laws. The Commissioner also investigates complaints, reviews appeals of access to information responses, comments on the implications of new programs, policies, and technologies on access and privacy rights, and engages in public education and outreach activities.
Big data surveillance and predictive analytics is a complex and evolving practice that often involves large amounts of personal information. As a project partner in this study, the OIPC hopes to gain a better understanding of how big data surveillance works, and what it means for the privacy rights of citizens. We have identified a number of priority research areas that we believe will contribute to our ability to assess the compliance of big data surveillance with our privacy laws, and to engage with the public and stakeholders in discussions about the real world implications of big data surveillance.
The Surveillance Studies Centre
c/o David Murakami Wood
Department of Criminology
University of Ottawa
Canada