Information & Ethics committee  We offered to provide advice. Is it normal that we not intervene in every case? I think the reality is that we, as an office, cannot be involved in pre-authorizing or reviewing every case of data collection or disclosure that occurs in Canada. We give general advice that we hope

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the invitation to appear in connection with your important study. Early in the pandemic, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recognized that data can serve the public interest, such as protecting public health. To that

Health committee  No concern—I had essentially finished. Our point is that even though a parliamentary committee can compel the production of personal information under its authority, and that there would be authority under the Privacy Act for the disclosure to a committee, in the circumstances

Health committee  Thank you to the Chair and members of the committee for your invitation to share our views on your current study. As you said, I am accompanied by Gregory Smolynec, the Deputy Commissioner. Due to a prior engagement, I cannot be here for the entire meeting, but Mr. Smolynec wil

Information & Ethics committee  Yes. We think that for Canada to be competitive—and the government underlined this in Bill C-11, and I would completely agree.... We have a confidence problem, a trust problem. Consistently Canadians, at the level of 90% or so, have expressed their concerns that privacy is not cu

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you.

Information & Ethics committee  I'll be brief. It's about the concept of privacy as a human right. The issues we are talking about are extremely complex from a technical point of view, as everyone agrees. Despite the complexity of the technology and the privacy rules, it is clear to me that the goal should be

Information & Ethics committee  For more details, let me refer you to my submission. Generally speaking, I would say that the principles can be clear and unambiguous, but not the rules. I agree with many of the speakers who speak favourably of the importance of having principle‑based privacy laws, such as the

Information & Ethics committee  The statement that we have issued with our provincial colleagues makes clear that it is desirable that the best solution would be for governments, federal and provincial, to set rules. The law is such that governments could decide to give a role for private companies, but my advi

Information & Ethics committee  How many hours do we have to answer that question?

Information & Ethics committee  At the beginning of my mandate, there was a lot of emphasis on public and national security issues, and on measures that followed the events of September 11. The Snowden phenomenon highlighted certain government practices. It's not all perfect, but we have made progress on thos

Information & Ethics committee  Absolutely.

Information & Ethics committee  On the use of the proof of vaccination at the border, I think we'll be able to come up with a solution that works and that is privacy sensitive and protected. You raise the issue of people who refuse to be vaccinated and the position that puts private companies or employers in.

Information & Ethics committee  It's a multi-faceted issue. It requires action by a number of actors. Not that long ago, there was an important impetus for advice to individual consumers: Be careful; do not put too much information on the Internet; use strong passwords. That's all very true. People should be

Information & Ethics committee  An important part of the solution, I think, clearly lies in ensuring that government departments and private sector entities have the right security safeguards to protect their consumers or citizens from these attempts. We have seen many, many privacy breaches in the past years i