Our Commitment to Visibility and Transparency

Here is installment number six on how PlaceSpeak is committed to the protection of our participants’ personal information and our persistent efforts in ensuring their privacy.

PlaceSpeak is recognized as a Privacy by Design Ambassador. Privacy by Design is a concept developed by Ontario’s former Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, in the 1990’s, to address the ever-growing and systemic effects of Information and Communication Technologies, and of large–scale networked data systems. The goals of Privacy by Design — ensuring privacy and gaining personal control over one’s information and, for organizations, gaining a sustainable competitive advantage — is accomplished by practicing the 7 Foundational Principles.

The sixth principle focuses on ensuring that a company’s policies and operations remain visible and transparent.

Visibility and Transparency

Privacy by Design seeks to assure all stakeholders that whatever the business practice or technology involved, it is in fact, operating according to the stated promises and goals, subject to independent verification. Its component parts and operations remain visible and transparent, to users and providers alike. Remember, trust but verify.

Here is Dr. Cavoukian talking about how privacy by design extends throughout the entire life-cycle of the data involved, from start to finish:

http://youtu.be/VHnAtykRq0w

Approach:

Privacy is as important to us as it is to our proponents and participants. Our policies and practices are publicly available and we make efforts throughout the engagement process to raise the issue of privacy and educate our communities of interest internal and external to our organization. Seeking Ambassador Status with Privacy by Design is an example of the importance we place on transparency and accountability to deliver on our commitment to protecting privacy.

Example:

PlaceSpeak’s privacy policy is easy to find from our homepage and is publicly available for review. We have created an explainer video, which details our privacy policies and how PlaceSpeak treats and protects personal information. We profile the privacy policy each time a proponents sets up a consultation topic.

PlaceSpeak has sought and secured recognition from the Province of British Columbia as a trusted online platform for the purposes of provincial public engagement initiatives.

Impact:

PlaceSpeak is able to build trust through dynamic, real-time and transparent dialogue among verified users.