Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner reviews U-Prove toolkit

Earlier this year, Dr. Ann Cavoukian (Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner) gave a terrific presentation on identity, security, and privacy at Waterloo University.Dr. Cavoukian oversees the operations of the freedom of information and privacy laws in Canada’s most populous province, and is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. Like the Auditor General, she serves as an officer of the legislature, independent of the government of the day. She is also the author of two influential books on privacy: “Who Knows: Safeguarding Your Privacy in a Networked World,” and “The Privacy Payoff: How Successful Businesses Build Customer Trust.”

In her lecture, Dr. Cavoukian explains how security is only one aspect of privacy, talks about how technology can enhance both privacy and security at the same time in a holistic fashion, and urges businesses to adopt technological solutions designed to minimize the collection and retention of personally identifying information. She also explains why privacy and security in a digital world are not in conflict with each other, but mutually enforcing.

About 38 minutes into her lecture, Dr. Cavoukian extensively reviews Credentica’s U-Prove software toolkit. She eloquently explains not only its privacy benefits but also the liability, risk, and security benefits to organizations. One of my colleagues at Credentica excerpted the relevant segment of the lecture for quick access; click here to view the video (in wmv format).

The video of the complete lecture, which runs a bit over one hour, can be viewed and downloaded from the University of Waterloo.