Dufresne recommends changes to Digital Charter Act

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is happy the government is open to altering the Digital Charter Implementation Act, Bill C27, but has a few more changes to suggest. Philippe Dufresne made the remarks in an opening statement at an appearance before the House of Commons Industry Committee Thursday. The legislation will update the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and in its third section will introduce the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). “We have been asking for a long time, the modernization of both PIPEDA and the Privacy Act.” the commissioner stated in French. “Canadians expect and deserve modern privacy laws that will protect their fundamental right to privacy while supporting the public interest and encouraging innovation.” “Bill C-27 is a step in the right direction but it can and must go further to protect the fundamental privacy rights of Canadians while supporting the public interest and innovation,” Dufresne said in English. To that end, his office is submitting a list of 15 proposals broken down into three categories. The first is privacy as a fundamental right, including protecting children’s privacy and expanding the lists of violations for which fines may be levied. Second is privacy in support of the public interest and the nation’s innovation and competitiveness. These recommendations include strengthening the framework for de-identified and anonymized information and limiting the government’s ability to make exceptions to the act by way of regulations. Finally the office recommends privacy as an accelerator of Canadians’ trust in their institutions and in their participation as digital citizens. This includes allowing individuals to use authorized representatives to help advance privacy rights and amending timelines to guarantee the privacy protection regime is accessible and effective. Dufresne urged parliamentarians to adopt the AIDA provisions of the bill. “The introduction of the AIDA could make Canada one of the first countries to regulate AI which is important given the technology’s potential risks,” he said. During his testimony Tuesday, Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne revealed that the government is planning to introduce amendments to the bill. That led to partisan wrangling on the committee Thursday as opposition MPs sought to see the text of those changes. Conservative MP Brad Vis moved a motion to have the proposed government amendments presented to the committee within five business days. The Liberals countered that the alterations are merely theoretical and have not yet been written, although that was not what Champagne said during his appearance. At one point the debate got so confused that Brampton Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu accidentally voted in favour of an opposition motion that the rest of the government MPs opposed. She was given unanimous consent to change her vote. The three opposition parties carried the day and Vis’ motion passed. The debate on the motion took up so much time that Dufresne and his officials did not have time to answer questions from committee members. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca

Dufresne recommends changes to Digital Charter Act

News | September 29, 2023

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Dufresne recommends changes to Digital Charter Act

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