Evidence of meeting #28 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was know.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
That's assuming that you have a computer and that you're accessing Google and that you care whether you're on there or not before you find out there's a problem.
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Yes, you're absolutely right.
It's not an obvious answer, but when you do identify a concern, our understanding is that the take-down measures are much better and much clearer. They are accessible and responsive in both Google and Canpages, as examples of the organizations we've been discussing. Those take-down measures can be exercised, and you can get a fairly responsive reaction.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
For the person who has a computer and is on Google, it's simply a matter of sending them a message, but for the person who isn't computer-literate at all, or who doesn't have one, is it a telephone call? Could you call to remove your information?
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I'm not sure. I don't know of methods other than the computer procedure.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
I can ask that question next week.
Do I have some time left?
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Okay.
Do we have any idea what percentage of the streets in Canada are currently on Google Street View? Is it 80%, or 50%, or are we closer to 100%?
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I don't know. Maybe that's another one you could ask Google. I'm not sure.
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
I think I will probably leave it at that.
Do I have 30 seconds?
Conservative
Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON
Maybe I'll put a question to our legal counsel.
In your opening remarks, Ms. Kosseim, you mentioned on page 5 that one of the things you recommend is that “Google delete the Canadian payload data it collected, to the extent that Google is allowed to do so...”.
Why would they not be allowed? In what circumstances would they not be allowed to remove data they've collected illegally in the first place? I was wondering if Mr. Caron would--
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I think that you've asked this question of legal counsel.
Dan, would you respond?
Daniel Caron Legal Counsel, Legal Services, Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Branch, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Thank you for the question.
The recommendation was articulated in that manner because there are ongoing litigation matters in the United States. A number of civil actions have been commenced against Google with respect to this matter, and the commissioner wouldn't want to suggest that Google spoliate any evidence that might be relevant to those proceedings. That's the reason.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Shawn Murphy
Thank you very much, Mr. Albrecht.
Ms. Thi Lac, you have five minutes.
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Good afternoon, Ms. Kosseim, Mr. Patrick and Mr. Caron.
My question is further to that of my colleague Mr. Albrecht and concerns stored data. You talked about the procedure for removing images. What in general are the deadlines for the removal of those images?
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
First, I'd like to clarify one point. Faces and licence plates have been blurred for some time now. So we're not talking about that, but rather about other images that nevertheless constitute a concern for the individual in question.
I don't know exactly how much time that would take. I don't know whether we tested that, but I think so. I can't tell you the exact time it takes, but I believe the process is quite efficient.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Yes, but you don't have any specific figures on the time it takes.
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I'm going to ask Dr. Patrick; perhaps he knows.
Information Technology Research Analyst, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
You should ask Google what their policy is or what their target is. Our experience is that it's happening within 24 hours.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
That's good.
Despite the fact that you talked about blurring licence plates and faces, I would like to know what is being done for the public interest. Consider the protection of certain women who are victims of spousal abuse. What happens if someone finds images of women's centres and homes, primary or secondary schools? Even though certain images are blurred, I nevertheless find it somewhat difficult to accept that.
The public interest and especially the protection of young children, minors and persons who are victims of violence are fundamentally important. What can be done to ensure the protection of these individuals by the Google Maps system?
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I'm going to answer that question in two parts.
We know the practices of two companies, Google and Canpages. To give you an example, those two companies reacted to the same problem in very different ways. Google undertook to speak with certain vulnerable groups in advance to ask them what their preferences were and how to manage the problem. We know that it took the initiative of doing so and, to our knowledge, it did a good job of pursuing that approach.
In the case of Canpages, I believe the reverse was true. That company's policy is not to blur the images of buildings because that draws attention to the buildings that are not identified and that, for the reasons you mentioned, no one wants identified. I'm talking more specifically about buildings for women who are victims of violence, for example.
Bloc
Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
I talked about women and children who are victims of violence. I understand that, when certain images are withdrawn, that further draws attention.
Could one policy be adopted for all educational institutions? That policy could concern minors, whether it be primary or secondary students. Will a policy be established for all these images to be removed?
General Counsel, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
As a best practice, we have recommended that the organizations use these technologies to begin a dialogue with neighbourhood organizations to determine how this problem can be managed as a whole. Our proposed best practice is that this conversation be held with the communities in question.
Liberal