Information & Ethics committee  The privacy programs merge, so all of the communications have been similar.

Information & Ethics committee  Again, it's hard for me to know what is in anyone's mind. When we are talking about an opt-out, and particularly when we're talking about de-identified information, our primary goal is to protect our customers' privacy, regardless of what selection or option they have chosen. That's why we have focused on strong de-identification for our platform and all of the controls we have in place to ensure that privacy is protected.

Information & Ethics committee  I didn't say it was an inconvenience, but it may not be helpful, if we're talking about.... The concept of de-identification is to remove the ability to trace it back to an individual so that it's no longer personal information. When we are talking about personal information, consent is very relevant.

Information & Ethics committee  We have a lot of information in our privacy policy and on our website about de-identification. In terms of all of the various uses and the concept of implied consent under our legislation, although under our legislation it's not generally considered that consent is required. We're very transparent about that.

Information & Ethics committee  That's correct. As I said earlier, though, we did a lot of op-eds. We did media releases. We were very publicly transparent. I recognize that some individuals want to know everything that's going on with their data, while some don't want to know anything and some want to know just in time, when they are thinking about it.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not positive. Through you, Mr. Chair, I'm not sure I understand the question. What do I think about using data for surveillance capitalists? Is that the question?

Information & Ethics committee  I'm aware that data can be used for good and I'm aware that it can be used in ways that are not good as well. It's absolutely, critically important that we're paying attention to how data is used, that we make inquiries, and that we are responsible in our use of data and are transparent about it.

Information & Ethics committee  What we're talking about here today is the Data for Good program, which is—

Information & Ethics committee  I think I need to be clear about what the exact question is. If we're talking about the Data for Good program, there is no sale involved at all. It's almost exclusively done for free, or at most on a cost recovery basis. If you're talking about other types of data, just broadly, and whether they are a core part of our business model, I would have to say no.

Information & Ethics committee  If we were selling customers' personal information, it would require a separate and very expressed consent. We are not selling customers' personal information. We're not sharing customers' personal information. We're sharing insights drawn from de-identified data points drawn off of our cellular network, the number of pings, so that we can map population movements on a large scale to help with the pandemic.

Information & Ethics committee  Yes, it was. Before it goes through the transformation, it's personal information.

Information & Ethics committee  We did not obtain user consent for this specific purpose. This was not personal information; this was de-identified information, so the information was de-identified and then shared for these purposes.

Information & Ethics committee  That's correct.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not privy to all of the uses to which the data was put. We have a record of them, but I don't know them all personally. We heard Dr. Tam speak earlier about how valuable it had been to have mobility data and be able to layer that in with epidemiological data, similar to what Dr.

Information & Ethics committee  The data that this is based off of at the point of collection is collected in the course of providing mobility services, so that consent is applied to its use for mobility services and to provide mobility services; however, when we de-identified the data, it was no longer personal information about our customers.