The Privacy Commissioner’s Office has joined the call to put the best interests of young people at the forefront of privacy and access to personal information.

This is Data Privacy Week and provincial Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey says last year his office identified the privacy rights of children and young people as a key priority over the next three years.

He says this generation of children is the first that is fully digital from birth, and therefore they may not see data privacy in the same way as older generations.

“Children are raised online, they live their lives online, they don’t know an offline world”, says Harvey, “so they would have entirely different perspectives and assumptions”

Privacy commissioners from across the country last fall identified the privacy rights of children as a top priority. Harvey says children are more vulnerable to having their information taken, used and exploited.

“I don’t necessarily mean…things that are criminally nefarious, but just to be…nudged and manipulated, and have their activities and beliefs and perspectives shaped.” Harvey believes all people have a right to live a life “where they’re not being manipulated by companies and organizations.”