Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The consumer privacy protection act makes reference to the term “significant impact” on several occasions, and we are concerned that the CPPA does not currently explicitly include a definition of what this term means. Given the significance of this term throughout the bill, it poses considerable issues in the face of conflicting interpretations and views of what this term constitutes to stakeholders and businesses.
The term “significant impact” is currently featured twice in the bill. In proposed paragraph 62(2)(c), it states, under “Policies and practices” of “Openness and Transparency”, that an organization must make:
a general account of the organization's use of any automated decision system to make predictions...that could have a significant impact on them
It also says that this section concerns how an organization “must make...available [any] policies or practices put in place to fulfill” it.
Then, in proposed subsection 63(3) on access to personal information, concerning the use of automated decision systems, it makes another reference: “If the organization has used an automated decision system [with regard] to an individual that could have a significant impact on them, [it] must, on request...provide...an explanation” to the individual. This section concerns an organization's requirement, on request, to fully inform an individual of any use of personal information and to provide access to that information.
In the same way that “automated decision system” is defined in the CPPA to explicitly explain and outline the use of certain technologies, the impact of these technologies should be explicitly defined in this bill to remove any ambiguity and protect Canadians. The consequences of not including the definition of “significant impact” present a threat to the compliance of personal information and protection. We've worded it in a way that says “prescribed criteria”, which I believe allows flexibility for policies and perhaps even regulations to be drawn up after the bill is passed in this area, but I would ask the officials to comment.