Information & Ethics committee  That's a great question. I think the starting point is the question of whether data can ever be reidentified. Can you put humpty dumpty back together again? I think that's one of the really exceptional challenges in this area. We see it play out on a lot of different issues. From what I've seen in the testimony, certainly coming from the provider's perspective in terms of their responses and what they tried to do, it does sound like there was a genuine effort to try to ensure that it would not be identifiable, with various guardrails.

Information & Ethics committee  I think—

Information & Ethics committee  I'd start by saying that keeping that door open is something that we see both companies and perhaps governments trying to do in terms of potential multi-use of data down the road. That's partially where these problems really start to arise. I think that you can make a credible case in some circumstances, but trying to leave full flexibility down the road starts to really tear at the public trust that we've just been hearing about.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much, Chair. Good morning. My name is Michael Geist. I'm a law professor at the University of Ottawa, where I hold the Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law, and I'm a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society. I appear in a personal capacity, representing only my own views.