As individual countries around the world implement different kinds of privacy legislation, professionals and corporations are faced with the daunting task of learning to navigate the resulting thicket of laws if they want to do business on a global scale.
A new portal announced today has been designed to simplify that process. The Privacy Network — created by Microsoft Canada, Bell Security Solutions Inc. and the University of Toronto's Centre for Innovation Law and Policy — aims to explain privacy information by means of permission-based on-line discussion forums moderated by experts from around the world.
The portal, at www.ThePrivacyNetwork.org, promises to use state-of-the-art research to help its members, especially with the developing technologies that both serve and threaten them.
"We have strong privacy laws in Canada, yet many businesses are still trying to figure out exactly what their legal obligations are," the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy's director Richard Owens said in a statement.
"As well, there is some confusion around the distinction between privacy and security. Bringing together policy makers, researchers and practical implementers through the Privacy Network will facilitate sharing, debate and development in these areas. It will help the privacy community to develop new policies and tools to help protect personal information, and educate people about roles and responsibilities around privacy."
The Privacy Network is designed to provide an opportunity to share information, discuss policies and develop new tools. Built on Microsoft SharePoint-based portal technologies, it will function as an Internet hub where privacy experts can collaborate through specific group sites.
Bell Security Solutions, a subsidiary of Bell Canada, will contribute its privacy expertise to help simplify privacy issues at both policy and implementation levels.
For the public at large, the portal will have a public site that answers questions on privacy.
Funding for the project came from Communications and Information Technologies Ontario, a division of the Ontario government's Ontario Centres of Excellence.
The Privacy Network will enable "open-access sites for the casual information searcher, but also helps provide secure group environments where privacy policy and technology experts can dive deeper into standards, research or technology and policy issues," said Mike Gurski, a privacy strategist with Bell Security Solutions.
