Merci.
Thank you both for appearing.
I understand your point about having this technology and a neutral type of approach, but there seems to be.... We talk about the Internet, but there are also cellphones and all these other technologies that are growing so quickly it's impossible to control. Even if you have all the companies, such as Microsoft and their move on pornography and all those things, there are still going to be ways to get around it. I think education on how to protect yourself becomes very important.
Just to make the point, I think we're going to have to consider the technology specifically, because it is going so fast. It's almost impossible to know when you're giving out the information. The consent mechanism isn't necessarily there. Sometimes they'll assume by the very fact that you are on that site that you are giving consent.
I went to the site of one of the large news organizations. I go there every day to check the price of oil on the commodities market. Before too long, I noticed I was getting unsolicited suggestions on stock picks. Included in that were some executable files. I delete everything, because I don't know what it is. I don't know if I ever gave consent for this. If I did, I didn't do it knowingly, but somehow it's there. There are a lot of difficulties with it.
I have a bit of a problem, generally, when we try to legislate these things, because these are from the consumer and commercial market. I don't like that my name and information is being sold because I bought a pair of headsets. They ask me for my phone number and these things in an electronic store. More and more you go there, and the first reaction is that you're filling in some personal information. Rather than just paying for your thing, they ask for this other information.
But there is the other side of it. There are things that I think are in the interest of society. The understanding of the laws and the application of the laws have become very difficult. I'll give the example of health care. It seems to me to be quite reasonable that when I go to a pharmacy he takes my social insurance number or some number and knows every drug that I've ever taken in my life--and that the doctor I visit has the same information. But not everybody agrees to that. Some information should be personal, and they don't want it floated out there. For the improvement of our health system, I'm willing to give up some privacy. I won't do it for commercial purposes.
To try to draft that regulation or that legislation in all provinces and all sectors and meet all those criteria becomes very difficult.
I wonder if you could comment on those points about the public interest and the individual's right to privacy.