Our goal is to champion the access and privacy rights of Ontario’s children and youth by promoting their digital literacy and the expansion of their digital rights while holding institutions accountable for protecting the children and youth they serve.
TORONTO, ON (September 23, 2021) – The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) has released, Privacy Pursuit! Games and Activities for Kids, a fun and free resource to help children learn more about personal privacy and how to protect themselves online.
Using entertaining activities like word searches, crosswords, word matches, and cryptogram puzzles, Privacy Pursuit! helps kids learn how to:
use, strengthen, and protect passwords
limit what information they share online
develop privacy empathy
respect the privacy of others
avoid online scams and
protect themselves against cyber threats
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, children’s use of the internet and social media networks has risen significantly. Making sure they understand the privacy risks of the technologies they use has never been more important,” said Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. “This privacy activity book is a fun way of equipping our kids with the skills they need to enjoy online activities safely and helping them grow and develop as informed digital citizens.”
The activities can be done individually or with siblings, friends, parents, and teachers. They are designed to provide a fun opportunity for kids to learn about online safety through self-reflection and discovery, and can help spark deeper conversations about what privacy means to them and to others.
“Young people are subject to as much surveillance as adults online, and the data that’s collected about them – as well as the choices they make about what they share and publish – have the potential to affect their whole lives,” said Matthew Johnson, Director of Education for MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital media literacy. “Privacy Pursuit! is a great way to introduce young people, and the adults in their lives, to these issues and the things we can do to take control of them.”
As part of its recently released strategic priorities, the IPC has identified Children and Youth in a Digital World as one of four key priority areas that will guide its efforts now and into the future. The IPC’s goal is to champion the access and privacy rights of Ontario’s children and youth by promoting their digital literacy and the expansion of their digital rights while holding institutions accountable for protecting the children and youth they serve.
On January 1, 2020, Part X of the Child, Youth, and Family Services Act comes into force, creating a new access and privacy framework for Ontario’s child and family services sector. The Information and Privacy Commissioner will oversee these new rules for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
To raise awareness of access and privacy rights among, children, youth and families, the IPC has prepared a brochure, poster and quick reference card. In the coming months, we’ll continue to update our website with additional materials for youth and answers to frequently asked questions.
If you have not done so, check out our resources for service providers. These include a guide to Part X, a guide to tracking and submitting annual statistics to the IPC and reporting privacy breaches to the IPC. Your first annual statistics report is due to the IPC on March 2021, so it is essential that you begin your tracking program as soon as Part X takes effect in January 2020.
Sign-up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest Part X information and guidance.
With the new school year on the horizon, the IPC is educating the educators about their obligations when handling students’ confidential information.
School boards, educators, and administrators in Ontario’s public and separate school system are responsible for making sure their students’ personal information is secure and protected at all times. To help manage this responsibility, the IPC has released a series of resources to raise awareness about access and privacy within the education sector.
We are here to help. IPC staff are available for Professional Activity days to discuss Ontario’s information and privacy laws with educators and staff. For more information, or to request hard copies of the guides and brochures, email @email.
There are more than two million students enrolled in Ontario’s public and separate schools. School boards, teachers and administrators are required to keep each student’s personal information secure and confidential.
Today the IPC released A Guide to Privacy and Access to Information in Ontario Schools, a resource for teachers, students and parents. The goal is to provide Ontario’s school board officials and education professionals with an understanding of their rights and obligations in relation to privacy and access to students’ personal information.
The IPC is committed to raising awareness with school boards and educators about access and privacy. To help meet this commitment, every Tuesday starting on January 15, we will tweet best practices and facts geared toward educators that focus on their obligations under the MFIPPA.
