The Panoptic Society: Privacy and Information Services in Canada

Abstract

According to civil libertarians, Information technologies have provided the means of realizing :Jeremy' Bentham's intellectual vision of the Panopticon. They claim that we are now living in a society where massive amounts of information can be collected by government agencies and.commercial organizations, then stored, manipulated and used without the individual's knowledge or consent. Moreover, they contend that there are few, if any, avenues of recourse open to individuals who feel that their privacy has been abused through misuse of information in electronic form. This background paper traces the evolution of the privacy issue, reviews public and expert.opinion,on the subject.and examines some of the.major concerns about misuse of information services. It looks at the current state of privacy protection in Canada, with particular emphasis.on recent developments at.the federal level. It draws .some conclusions and suggests various options for action in Canada, including steps that the Department of Communications should take to address the privacy issue.