U.S., Canadian firms have different views of privacy.

Canadian businesses view privacy practices as an opportunity to improve relations with customers while U.S. firms see privacy measures more as a way of complying with legislation and avoiding lawsuits, according to a recent study conducted by The Ponemon Institute, an Arizona-based privacy think tank.

The study, the first to compare the corporate privacy practices of comparable Canadian and U.S. businesses, revealed that the two have vastly different attitudes and motivations when it comes to protecting customer privacy. For example, 61 percent of Canadian companies surveyed linked "good privacy practices" to customer trust and brand loyalty, compared to only 17 percent of U.S. companies.

The study, based on interviews with 36 large companies in Canada and the United States that spanned many industries, also found that Canadian companies were more likely to have dedicated privacy officers, resources, and training programs. Only 50 percent of U.S. companies surveyed had privacy-training programs, and 43 percent had privacy awareness activities for new employees, compared to 82 percent and 71 percent, respectively, in Canada. About three-quarters of Canadian companies assigned a senior executive as their privacy officer, compared to half of U.S. companies. In Canada, those officers were about twice as likely to be assigned on a full time basis and to have enough company resources to do the job properly, the study found. Canadian privacy officers are also more likely to report directly to a company's chief executive officer or chairman.

The study found that Canadian companies are more concerned with insider misuse of data and making sure third-party partners and suppliers respect privacy policies, whereas U.S. companies appear more focused on protecting data from outsiders, such as hackers.

Canada has made many strides in protecting consumer privacy. For example, the country has provincial and federal privacy commissioners who oversee the rules and help educate consumers and industries about privacy issues. Its national private-sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), went into full effect earlier this year. The United States has no similar law and so tends to create rules that are specific to certain industries or issues, according to the study.

Two U.S. congressmen recently introduced a bill that would establish the country's first federal chief privacy officer, as well as similar positions for every federal department and agency. However, even if the bill becomes law, a U.S. privacy chief would not have control over the private sector.

The study also found that

* Customers' privacy preferences are captured by 79 percent of Canadian companies, compared to 53 percent of U.S. companies.

* U.S. companies were far more likely to use firewalls and software to protect customer and employee data by detecting intruders into computer systems that contain sensitive data.

* Nearly 70 percent of Canadian companies have a policy regarding surveillance and computer monitoring in the workplace while only 13 percent of U.S. companies do; however, U.S. companies are more likely to let their employees choose how their personal data is collected.

* Canadian companies are more likely to let consumers opt out of the secondary use and sharing of their personal information.