Information & Ethics committee  There were discussions about this in the budget recently. There are going to be legislative proposals to encourage a more open banking system, so with more information sharing, both in the interests of consumers, but also to combat money laundering. In one case, this will be governed by the banking regulators; in the other, it will be governed by the anti-money laundering authority.

Information & Ethics committee  I will use the powers granted to me by law to continue making sure that privacy is protected. In the context of a new bill, I will give my opinion to the relevant committee and tell them, where appropriate, whether I believe the wording should be strengthened. I will certainly be very active in raising concerns, as I have done in other areas, such as cybersecurity and national security.

Information & Ethics committee  We've obtained additional funding, and that's helped. We are looking at our processes. We have done an assessment to see if we could find efficiencies. Can we streamline? Can we have some more early resolution of complaints? We're really looking at all of those aspects, and this is strategic priority number one in my strategic plan, talking about optimizing the OPC itself.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, the funding is not adequate, and it's not permanent. We have had temporary funding, and that has helped greatly. We need permanent funding, because those complaints and breaches are permanent, and they are increasing. This is something I hope to—

Information & Ethics committee  I do. I think as agents of Parliament we report to you; we don't report to the executive branch. In fact, we investigate complaints against the executive branch. In my case, there may be a difference vis-à-vis my private sector mandate—I have both public sector and private sector mandates.

Information & Ethics committee  There was a process in the past whereby the requests were reviewed by a committee of parliamentarians. I think it was chaired by the Speaker's office, and you had representatives of all parties, and then it went forward to Treasury Board. It wasn't fully independent, but it certainly provided greater oversight.

Information & Ethics committee  In terms of the sandboxes for organizations, we're not currently resourced to offer this, but my international counterparts are, and they are doing it with business, so they will say, “You can come over, and you can test this new technology in a safe space where the regulator can provide input, can provide risk.

Information & Ethics committee  Very quickly, a nudging technique basically means that you're making it very easy to make one choice and very hard to make another choice. When you're making it very easy to make a bad choice, you're nudging towards that bad choice.

Information & Ethics committee  This is the company's point of view. In the act, there are provisions stating that companies should not collect more information than is necessary for them to achieve their purpose, but the determination of what is necessary is made by the organization.

Information & Ethics committee  It can be challenged. Some might question whether some information is really necessary. In that case, processes can be triggered, including with my office, to look into the matter.

Information & Ethics committee  I issued a declaration last December with the UN special rapporteur on privacy and human rights, and I highlighted the link between the protection of privacy and other fundamental rights. That includes democratic rights, so in protecting privacy, whether it's the privacy of members of Parliament, voters or citizens, we can see that there are overlaps with other sectors.

Information & Ethics committee  Well, if we're talking about privacy breaches generally in the private sector or public sector, one of the elements is that the organization would have to notify my office and would have to notify the affected individuals as early as possible. That's one of the mechanisms to provide that information, and then there are mechanisms to take steps to protect and prevent and address it.

Information & Ethics committee  We have roughly 215 employees at the OPC, and we have proposed budget funding for my office in the 2024-25 main estimates of $34 million. We have had an increase of $4.5 million in the previous year. Half of that is attributable to collective bargaining increases, so that's not really increasing our budget or our ability to do our work; it's just maintaining it.

Information & Ethics committee  In some of these investigations we're focused on the consent. Are you obtaining meaningful consent by Canadians, and are you doing that in an appropriate way with respect to the age? We have guidance on that in terms of the fact that what is appropriate for an adult isn't going to be appropriate for a child, for a minor.

Information & Ethics committee  What we look for in terms of investigations and reviews is whether an organization is putting in commensurate measures to protect the sensitivity of the information of minors and children. Are they aware of the likelihood that their users are minors? We're investigating TikTok, and we announced that we are going to be focusing particularly on children's use, because this is a big part of the clientele of that website.