Ann Cavoukian
| Ann Cavoukian | |
|---|---|
Cavoukian in 2013
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| 3rd Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario | |
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In office 1997–2014 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Wright |
| Succeeded by | Brian Beamish |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 Cairo, Egypt |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario |
| Alma mater |
York University University of Toronto |
Ann Cavoukian (born 1952) is the former Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Canadian province of Ontario serving from 1997 to 2014. She is currently the Executive Director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University
Cavoukian was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1952 to ethnic Armenian parents Artin and Lucie Cavoukian, and immigrated to Toronto with her family in 1958. She is the sister of the well-known Canadian children's entertainer Raffi and Onnig Cavoukian (commonly called "Cavouk"), a well-known photographer.
She took a B.A. at York University in Toronto and then received an MA and Ph.D in psychology from the University of Toronto, specializing in criminology and law.
In the 1980s, she headed the Research Services Branch for the provincial Attorney General. Joining the Ontario provincial Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in 1987, Cavoukian served as its first Director of Compliance followed by her appointment as Assistant Commissioner in 1990.
She was initially appointed Commissioner in 1997, and is the first Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario to have been re-appointed for a third term. Serving as an officer of the provincial legislature, the Commissioner is independent of the government of the day.
Cavoukian promotes the concept of Privacy by Design.
In November 2007, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) announced plans to expand its video surveillance program which resulted in a formal complaint to Commissioner Cavoukian from Privacy International, a U.K.-based organization, citing concerns that the TTC’s proposed expansion was a violation of privacy laws. In response to this complaint, Cavoukian launched an investigation where she ruled that the TTC’s expansion of its video surveillance system did not contravene any applicable privacy laws. As part of her investigation, she made 13 recommendations to the TTC, which have all been implemented, and she also encouraged the TTC to conduct a pilot project to test the use of a privacy-enhancing video surveillance technology, developed by researchers at the University of Toronto.
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