Navigating the Privacy Landscape: Harmonizing Legislative and Public Sector Approaches in the Canadian Context

This paper, presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research’s conference on Data Privacy Protection and the Conduct of Applied Research: Methods, Approaches and their Consequences, Spring 2024, articulates a Canadian analysis of evolving privacy protection frameworks in response to technological advances and changing societal values. It contextualizes the analysis within the Canadian framework using Bergeron’s structuro-functionalist state theory. It explores Statistics Canada's use of financial data, highlighting public concerns about data access and governance, and emphasizes the need for adaptable privacy protection models. It advocates for policies that balance data accessibility, privacy, and public trust.