Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Caribou-Chilcotin for the introduction of his private member's Bill C-315.
The bill will protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves obtained by certain corporations. There have been many times when my mailbox at home is literally stuffed with so-called addressed junk mail. We all get it and I think it is safe to say most of us do not like it. In most cases it is a request for money for an obscure organization or it is an ad for a product we know will not be exactly how it appears in the picture.
We file this mail in the circular file, file 13, in a place where it rightfully belongs. However, what is it exactly that I am throwing out in that situation? Is it just a letter or a notice from some organization that happened to get my name and address out of the phone book? Chances are it did not come from a phone book but rather from some corporation that had me on its computer list and that corporation probably sold my name as a part of a mailing package to some interest group that has an interest in me as part of a targeted marketing scheme.
What could it know about my personal information? It can include a variety of things and could be gathered from several different sources. It could include a home address, business address, unlisted telephone numbers, physical characteristics, health records, education, employment, financial history, social insurance number, the magazines we read or even what political party we belong to.
Every Canadian who uses credit has their credit rating and related information stored in American computers and filed under their Canadian social insurance number.
Members should recall what was said in the House by the government of the day when the social insurance number was introduced. The government of the day misled us. Canadians, as it is now commonly observed by the commentators, were lied to about the scope, the use and the implications of our social insurance number. However, we cannot now turn back the clock of history. However, we can remember what group broke faith with Canadians on this subject. It was the Liberals.
It is an old story, the social insurance number debate in the House with the solemn promises made, especially in stark contrast to the current state of affairs. Are we any wiser now in this techno age? Are the Liberals? That is why we need much more protection in this general area. This private member's bill is a useful part of that developing awareness.
Opponents might say disseminating such information is not serious. I point out some examples that caused me to believe the issue is quite serious. In a recent Globe and Mail article a story was raised about a computer company that recently sent samples of its Internet browsing software free to four million people. However, when it was used the sample software automatically dialled up the company's home page, gathered information about users without their permission, gathered Internet addresses, types of software being used on the computer and who knows what else.
There are people who are geniuses with computers. They are capable of breaking encrypted codes and getting access to top government information. If they are able to get this type of information with ease there is no question what type of information they can obtain from me all without my knowledge or my permission yet still completely legal.
This bothers me and I am sure that when more Canadians are made aware of this it will trouble them as well.
The Internet is something completely new I am sure to most members of the House. Computer technology seems to be updated hourly, too fast for me to keep up. Last year I purchased a new laptop computer and at the time it was the latest technology. A week after I bought it a newer and better model was available. It is the same with the Internet. Every day someone has a new way of tapping into someone else's information.
Control of access on the Internet remains an unanswered problem. With more and more people accessing it everyday concerns certainly rise. People have expressed a concern to me and therefore I believe something must be done. We cannot sit around and do nothing. If we do, the technological world will overrun us and could literally prevent any protectionist measures from being eventually implemented.
The computer is only one of many ways of retrieving confidential information. I have heard of a hospital employee who supplied a computer disc of names of terminally ill patients to a local funeral home. There are no clear rules surrounding our privacy. The result is a clear lack of individual security.
The largest problem with parallel provincial privacy acts is they do not cover any federally regulated institutions. Bill C-315 affects all corporations as outlined in section 2 of the Canada Labour Code
such as air transportation companies, maybe a radio station or banks or any other work deemed under the Canada Labour Code.
Today I stopped by the Bank of Montreal and picked up an application for an air miles MasterCard to check the terms of application. At the bottom of the application is the fine print that should be read before we sign our life away, so to speak.
I want to read what it says:
By signing below I accept as notice in writing of and consent to you obtaining or exchanging any information about me at any time from any credit bureau, my employer or other person in connection with any relationships between us or those which you or I may wish to establish.
It is incredible. This disclaimer allows the financial institution to exchange my information, so basically other corporations may know what I purchased on my last trip. If any transaction has a name or a number attached to it, it is in the computer. The disclaimer does not indicate what information they can exchange. They simply say any information. Since most of us need a credit card, we sign off on the application and send it in. There is no getting around it. In other words, the banks have us in a catch 22. A credit card is needed to operate in the business world but complete exposure is the price of the card. Obviously all this needs to be changed.
However, the banks are against any federal changes and for obvious reason. They have their own privacy code, so they say. Linda Routledge, director of consumer affairs for the Canadian Bankers Association, said:
The association's voluntary privacy code is already used as the basis for rigorous safeguarding of consumer information by the banks.
The banks say why regulate. We have a code that works just fine. The problem is that with the code it does not allow the consumers the legal right or opportunity to complain. The power of banks is enormous and obviously they will do everything in their power to ward off federal regulators from intervening.
Canadians ought to have a right to control what is done with their personal information. I know my constituents would be completely behind me in that regard. Sure there are people out there who could not care less if anyone in the world knows who they are, what they earn, who they owe and what they owe. I am confident in saying that an overwhelming majority of Canadians are not comfortable with this type of knowledge being freely disclosed. It seems our whole lives are stored on a chip to validate who and what we are. It all comes from the computer. There is a movie playing with a plausible premise, that personal computer information could be put in the wrong hands and used in a sinister manner against the person.
The bill proposed by my colleague is an excellent foundation. It is vitally important that the bill make it through second reading and on to committee. If members have problems with the bill, they would have the opportunity to amend it in committee. We understand bills are not always perfect. That is why we have committees in this place: to make legislation better and to have successive review.
My colleague from Cariboo-Chilcotin has done his homework and produced a good bill. Along with my colleagues who have spoken before me, I too support the legislation and urge my friends from across the floor to do likewise, if not for themselves, then for the personal security of the community that has sent us here as their representatives.
