OPC announces recipients of special research funding

Last year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner invited proposals for privacy-related research grants. Yesterday, it announced the recipients of funding:

PRIVACY COMMISSIONER AWARDS $371,590 TO NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOR RESEARCH INTO THE PRIVACY IMPACT OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES:

"Ottawa, January 27, 2005 -- The Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart, is pleased to announce the awarding of $371,590, under the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's (OPC) Contributions Program, launched in June 2004, to support non-profit organizations, including universities, advocacy organizations and trade associations in conducting research into the privacy impact of emerging technologies.

'Canadians are becoming increasingly aware of privacy threats in an age of global and inter-organizational transmission of personal information. This is the first time the Office of the OPC has launched a program to enhance knowledge in addressing those concerns, by building strong links between the research community and privacy rights practitioners in Canada,' said Ms. Stoddart.

The Office was so impressed by the quality of the submissions that an additional $171,590, over and above the original $200,000 allotted, was allocated to the program to support the development of expertise in key areas of privacy and data protection, and to foster an understanding of the social value of privacy and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in addressing emerging issues...."