{"id":12269,"date":"2026-06-17T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccla.org\/?p=12269"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T00:16:13","slug":"civil-society-calls-on-federal-political-leaders-to-bring-their-parties-under-privacy-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.ccla.org\/fr\/press-release\/civil-society-calls-on-federal-political-leaders-to-bring-their-parties-under-privacy-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Society calls on Federal Political Leaders to Bring their Parties Under Privacy Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than thirty-five organizations, experts, and civil society groups are calling on Canada\u2019s federal leaders to close a major gap in privacy protection by bringing federal political parties under Canada\u2019s privacy laws.<\/p>\n

In an open letter addressed to the Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, and leader of the Official Opposition and other federal political party leaders, signatories are urging Parliament to establish clear, enforceable privacy rules governing how political parties collect, use, and share Canadians\u2019 personal information.<\/p>\n

At present, federal political parties operate outside of Canada\u2019s core privacy framework. Unlike hospitals, banks, schools, and government agencies, political parties are not subject to binding federal privacy law or independent oversight. This means they can collect highly sensitive personal information \u2014 including voters\u2019 addresses, demographics, issue preferences, and inferred political beliefs \u2014 without the same legal safeguards that apply to other institutions.<\/p>\n

80% of Canadians agree that federal political parties should follow the same privacy rules as businesses and public bodies. A recent political-party-enabled data breach of Alberta’s voter list–impacting close to 3 million Albertans–underscores these concerns. Despite this, major loopholes continue to allow federal political parties to collect and use Canadians\u2019 personal data with little to no external accountability or independent oversight. Yet the federal government’s recent attempt to update our privacy laws, Bill C-36<\/a>, does nothing to fix these loopholes.<\/p>\n

The letter highlights growing concern that this gap undermines public trust in democratic institutions, particularly as federal political parties increasingly rely on large-scale data collection, digital targeting, and third-party data brokers to build detailed voter profiles.<\/p>\n

Recent polling cited in the letter shows strong public support for reform, including:<\/p>\n