There have been six Privacy Commissioners since the office was established in 1977.

All of the nation's privacy commissioners issued a joint statement condemning the bill.

In addition, Canada's official federal and provincial privacy commissioners have criticized various aspects of the program.

Even the government's own Privacy Commissioner is upset about the lawful access idea.

Canada's Privacy Commissioner had raised similar concerns in 2010.

What the United States needs, he added, is to establish a privacy commissioner to enforce existing rules and investigate the need for new ones.

When an individual feels there has been a breach of the principles he or she can lodge a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has no jurisdiction in investigating such matters.

But civil liberties and privacy groups - even the federal privacy commissioner - said the bill violated the rights of Canadians.

Some questioned the Privacy Commissioner's decision, noting that almost all of the information in question was already available in the public domain.