DCHP-2

privacy czar privacy tsar DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Administration, Politics, Law

  informal title for a Privacy Commissioner.

  Type: 5. Frequency — The term czar (or tzar) has become an informal title for governmental positions with great authority or absolute power in North America (see also OED-3, s.v. "tsar / czar (b.)", which is labelled "orig. U.S."). The figurative use of czar, the name of the Russian king until dethroned during the October Revolution of 1917, has a long history in the Canadian context for someone with far-reaching powers (see the 1935 quotation for "wheat czar". In Canada today, the compound noun privacy czar is most frequently used, as it serves as a less formal name for the position of Privacy Commissioner, and often appears in news headlines (see the 1980 quotation and the second 1990 quotation) and in less formal contexts. In contrast to what the name suggests, the Privacy Commissioner does not have legally binding powers but can only give recommendations to the House of Commons (see, e.g., the 2016 quotation).
  COD-2 does not list the term.

  See also: Privacy Commissioner  

  • Privacy czar is by far the more frequent form compared to privacy tsar, which is otherwise the more modern spelling.