On October 17, 2023, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) announced the release of two companion documents that provide further guidance on protecting the privacy of young people. This guidance follows the recently adopted resolution on young people’s privacy by federal, provincial, and territorial regulators earlier in the month.
The first companion document, “Putting best interests of young people at the forefront of privacy and access to personal information,” provides additional guidance for organizations on best practices for managing young people’s information. Some suggested practices include allowing simple means for correcting personal information (i.e., deleting or recalling messages) or adopting shorter data retention policies to support young people in managing their online reputation.
The second document, “How organizations can help protect young people online,” is written for an audience of young people, and explains the goals of the recent resolution in plain language. It underscores their privacy rights and the steps that organizations should take to protect them, such as letting young people fix or delete information that is saved about them.