Information & Ethics committee  Regarding the consent model, I'll simply repeat that I don't think it's necessarily a matter of choosing between opt in and opt out, although that may work in some cases. The issue has merit, but the fact remains that we rely too often on a model based on consent when the consent is fictional.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm not sure that I'm in favour of a specific right for children, such as the right granted recently by the Europeans. The law already allows us to remove certain data when the damage is greater. It's true that the situation of children is more sensitive. The data can already be removed in certain cases.

Information & Ethics committee  I can see you're well prepared, because you made comparisons. Thank you for mentioning this. Honestly, I don't think there's any change in position. In terms of privacy, but also the other areas affected by digital technology, each change in legislation has resulted in a very serious problem.

Information & Ethics committee  Regarding Europe, I really don't think there's any rush. It's important to be connected, but the European approach seems useful culturally. I know it fairly well. I've been in Canada for 25 years, but I'm from Europe. I started in law in Europe. There's a very strong cultural difference when it comes to privacy.

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you, committee members. My name is Vincent Gautrais. I'm a law professor and lawyer, and the director of the Centre de recherche en droit public at the University of Montreal. I have the L. R. Wilson Chair in Information Technologies and E-Commerce Law. I'm very pleased to be speaking for the second time before this committee regarding issues related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and to be participating as a Canadian in this democratic exercise.