The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday presented a draft law that would impose major fines on companies that violate privacy law by misusing the personal data of their customers.

Data privacy Illustration: VCG

The fines would max out at 5 percent of the company's revenue, or C$25 million ($19.1 million), whichever is higher, said Navdeep Bains, the minister of innovation, science and industry.

Trudeau said the new law would stipulate the highest fines imposed among Group of Seven nations for privacy violations.

He said the Digital Charter Implementation Act would give "more control to Canadians and more transparency about how companies handle their personal information."

If the law is adopted, Canadians would henceforth be allowed to request the destruction of their personal data, the government said in a statement.

Data collection consent forms would have to be written in an easily understandable way, and not in a lengthy document laden with legalese, it said.

Canada's privacy commissioner would be able to order a company to stop collecting data or using personal information.

In recent years, several cyberattacks targeting the data of millions of Canadians have occurred. In summer of 2020, about 10,000 accounts belonging to those using online government services were hacked.
Newspaper headline: Canada poses major fines on firms in privacy laws