We didn't opine on it in a resolution, but of course we have a lot of debate about this in the relevant committee and within the chamber. I noticed that when the commissioner was here she was using the term “meaningful consent” to deal with a constituency of people who may not be competent to give their consent or understand the implications.
I would make a couple of points on what you said. On the legal gobbledygook issue, I think we all understand why it exists: somewhere a lawyer is trying to make his or her client bullet-proof against any possible action against them. It would be nice if the committee were to opine that it was time to clean up that language and make it simpler, putting that challenge before the attorneys.
As for the issue of meaningful consent, I don't know a more thorny issue in the world of cyber-commerce or one that I will be watching with more excitement to see what you come up with. The nice thing about being a member of Parliament is that if you're not an expert in any one field, you're an expert in the application of common sense, and this is where you're going to be with this issue.
If somebody is too young, is it the vendor or the carrier's responsibility to ascertain that? And in that case, how can they do so without unwarranted intrusion into their privacy? It's an extremely difficult challenge. I keep saying that someone bought them a computer, because if they're 13, they likely didn't buy the computer themselves, so there has to be some societal construct around them that might be employed.
It is an extremely demanding issue and one for which, as I say, the most obvious solutions, for the middlemen involved, are quite significant intrusions into our privacy, and we probably wouldn't be very happy about that.
Have I answered your question?