Though advocates' concerns about consumer privacy have long fallen on deaf legislative ears, recent high-profile breaches may incite a shift, opines Michael Geist in the Ottawa Citizen. Whether governments take action following headlines about breaches at Sony and Apple, consumers must take it upon themselves to act as "the front line guardians of their own privacy," Geist says, by "rotating passwords, only providing personal information that is strictly necessary for the services they use and opting out of unnecessary disclosures to third parties." Legislatively, Canada needs a mandatory breach notification system, Geist says. Now, breaches may go unreported to consumers and authorities without legal repercussions.
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