All right.
Adequacy is another issue that I think the committee should bear in mind during its review: the adequacy of privacy laws in Europe. In Europe, the GDPR, the general data protection regulation, which has been adopted and will come into force in 2018, will require a review of adequacy decisions every four years, and Canada's adequacy status, which since 2001 has allowed data to flow freely from the EU to Canada, will have to be revisited.
A January 2017 communication from the European Commission notes that Canada's adequacy status is “partial”, in that it covers only PIPEDA, and that all future adequacy decisions will involve a comprehensive assessment of a country's privacy regime, including access to personal data by public authorities for law enforcement, national security, and other public interest purposes.
Given the far-reaching impacts of our country's adequacy status on trade, as well as the differences between GDPR and PIPEDA, it will be important to keep this consideration in mind as the committee moves forward with its study.
In conclusion, Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, states that we stand on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution, characterized by a blurring of lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. This transformation, he argues, will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before.
PIPEDA was good legislation when it came into force in 2001, and it continues to provide a sound foundation upon which to build. However, in light of this new revolution, and more importantly, to meet the privacy expectations of Canadians, I believe that PIPEDA must be modernized.
Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.