Information & Ethics committee  Yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Estonia is very, very positive—

Information & Ethics committee  I want to make sure I leave time for Michael. We need enormous transparency on exactly who's doing what and how this information is being disseminated in terms of the data and the decisions being made on the part of the various levels of government you talked about that always seem to be at each other.

Information & Ethics committee  You have a number of elements that are very positive in what you've described in terms of the transparency associated with each service that's provided and the ease of access to this online by citizens. I want to make one comment about blockchain. Let us not assume that blockchain is this great anonymous technology.

Information & Ethics committee  I didn't resign lightly. I want to assure you of that. Sidewalk Labs retained me as a consultant to embed privacy by design—my baby, which I've been talking to you about—into the smart city they envisioned. I said, “I'd be very pleased to do that, but know that I could be a thorn in your side, because that will be the highest level of privacy, and in order to have privacy in a smart city...”.

Information & Ethics committee  Forgive me; I was shaking my head. Estonia is highly respected, no question. I personally would not want to go with one card with one chip that contained all your data. That's a centralized model that is just going to be so problematic, in my view, not only now but especially in the future.

Information & Ethics committee  I think it's an excellent model and it's one you're going to be seeing more of. It's called a model of decentralization, in which all the data isn't housed in one central database that different arms of government can access. The problem with centralization is that it is subject to far greater risk in terms of data breaches, privacy infractions, unauthorized access to the data by curious employees, inside jobs and all of that.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here to speak to you today. I've worked with Michael for many years, so it's wonderful to be here with him to speak on these important issues. What struck me in what you will be doing—I'm just going to read it out—is that your committee is to “undertake a study of digital government services, to understand how the government can improve services for Canadians while also protecting their privacy and security”.