After its first reading in front of Parliament, Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff expressed her support of the Privacy (Information Sharing) Amendment Bill, which she says "should allow agencies to be clearer about when they can share information in the public interest." The bill includes two recommendations; the first widens government agencies' discretion to share information when a person is at "serious" and "imminent" risk, and the second lays out protections to enable better data-sharing agreements to be made. The protections include considerations to be taken into account prior to making agreements, strengthening the privacy commissioner's role and requiring departments to make public reports on their activities.
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