Bill C-27 fails to protect rights of Canadians, say civil society groups

A coalition of civil society groups are calling on the government to make changes to Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, saying it is missing fundamental definitions, significantly lacks privacy rights protections, and gives the government too much unchecked power. During a press conference on Thursday, representatives from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), the Privacy and Access Council of Canada (PACC), the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), OpenMedia, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s think tank the Dais, voiced a list of their shared concerns. The groups said Bill C-27 needs substantial revision, criticizing legislators for trying to tackle such consequential topics like privacy and artificial intelligence (AI) without allowing more input from experts and human rights organizations. While they appreciate the amendments proposed by Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne in September, most of the groups’ worries remain, said Daniel Konikoff, interim director of CCLA’s privacy, surveillance and technology program. Bill C-27 is made up of a trio of proposed acts: the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA), the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act, and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). Rolling the three acts into one is a mistake, said the civil society groups, who have been repeatedly calling for the government to break it up and remove AIDA from the other two parts. Grouping it in with two other crucial pieces of legislation makes it harder to give each part its due scrutiny, said OpenMedia CEO Matt Hatfield in an email to The Wire Report. “Regulating first does not mean regulating best. For an issue area as novel and rapidly developing as AI, it probably means missing critical issues that legislatures elsewhere will identify and fix in their proposals,” he wrote, referring to Minister Champagne’s rush to make Canada one of the first countries to regulate the technology. OpenMedia and other groups said the bill is already out of step with emerging international standards and the government needs to remove and re-introduce AIDA as distinct legislation, accompanied by a public consultation. “We would far prefer to see Canada move at the pace of other friendly democracies and develop our rules building on the global conversation that is currently developing, at the conference and elsewhere,” wrote Hatfield. Konikoff highlighted CCLA’s concerns with the bill’s lack of regulation or definition around sensitive information. Particularly when it comes to biometric information, which he says is highly invasive and can pose serious harm if mishandled. He also pointed to the bill’s “consent carve outs” that allow businesses to handle individuals’ personal information without permission on the basis of “legitimate interest,” a term that he says is very loosely defined by the legislation. The current bill only applies to the private sector, they explained, noting the double standard in regulating private developers while the public sector gets to avoid the same scrutiny. Tim McSorley, national coordinator of ICLMG, pointed to “unacceptably broad exceptions” in AIDA that allow federal security agencies to avoid AI regulations. “This means that the development and use of artificial intelligence for some of the riskiest purposes, that pose the greatest risk to violating fundamental rights, will go unchecked,” he said. The groups argued that AI regulation needs to be holistic and explicitly include the government and other elements of the public sector. They also emphasized the independent role that regulation and enforcement needs to play. Sam Andrey, managing director of the Dais think tank, criticized how the proposed AI and Data Commissioner would work under the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, saying they need to be separate in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Andrey noted the minister has “both competing roles of championing the economic benefits of AI while regulating and enforcing its risks.” While the coalition of civil society groups criticized the bill for being too broad and full of vague language, they also noted it is too specific when it comes to defining the potential harms that could stem from AI systems, focusing only on individual harms. Andrey said that AIDA fails to acknowledge the collective harms that can be caused by AI, including things like election interference and environmental harm. A rights-based approach is essential when considering legislation like Bill C-27, and that requires an open dialogue with the public, said the groups. They highlighted the lack of information being shared from the Committee on Industry and Technology as they hash out the bill. “It's a shame,” said McSorley, adding that it is hypocritical of the government to say it wants to be a leader on AI without “engaging in the kind of consultation that we would hope other countries, globally, would also be engaging in with civil society and human rights organizations.” “Unfortunately, right now, an important part has been left out of the discussion.” Konikoff, McSorley, Hatfield, Andrey, and PACC president Sharon Polsky, were scheduled as witnesses at the industry committee’s meeting this afternoon, where they intend to expand on these concerns. – Reporting by Phalen Tynes-MacDonald at pcreed@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Bill C-27 fails to protect rights of Canadians, say civil society groups

News | November 2, 2023

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Bill C-27 fails to protect rights of Canadians, say civil society groups

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