What is the Data Breach Impact Assistance Petition
June 10, 2024 •
Learn about the Data Breach Impact Assistance petition, and how it can help improve cybersecurity legislation in Canada.
What is the Data Breach Impact Assistance Petition?
The Data Breach Impact Assistance petition seeks to improve cybersecurity legislation in Canada by compelling agencies and private companies in federally-regulated industries to provide mandatory identity theft prevention and mitigation services for at least one year to individuals impacted by data breaches.
It was started by a group of employees at Cyphercor Inc., and is open for signature to all citizens and residents of Canada until October 5, 2024.
Why has the petition been started?
Cyber attacks against Canadians and Canadian organizations are on the rise. As of 2022, more than half of Canadians over the age of 16 say they have been impacted by a data breach.
Individuals who are impacted by data breaches are at higher risk for identity theft and identity fraud, which can negatively impact the financial and health wellbeing of those affected.
Impacted individuals are left with the full responsibility to mitigate the fallout of those data breaches on their own, including time-consuming and expensive notification procedures and identity theft monitoring.
Jurisdictions around the world, such as in California and Connecticut, instead require the organizations that were breached to provide financial resources and assistance to individuals affected by the breach.
This puts the onus on companies to improve their data privacy and cybersecurity practices, in order to prevent data compromise of their clients and customers.
What could the outcomes of the petition be?
Current legislation before the Canadian Parliament that relates to cybersecurity and data privacy (Bill C-26 and Bill C-27) does not include remediation for those impacted by data breaches, but there is still time for the bills to be amended to include such a provision.
If included, then agencies and organizations in federally regulated industries in Canada would be required to provide resources to affected individuals.
How can I support the petition?
A link to the petition can be found below for all Canadian citizens and residents interested in signing and sharing.