Information & Ethics committee  It's very easy. Our information is out there, even if we put out bogus information. You can imagine what my children go through. They have their online birthdays. On their real birthdays, their friends say, “happy birthday” and the algorithms pick up on that. The algorithms detec

Information & Ethics committee  I agree. It's not just a matter of one social media platform or another, one company, or one government or another. This is pervasive, and it's been growing for a generation. What do we do about it? How do we stop it? Yes, it's education starting at the very youngest ages. Is

Information & Ethics committee  I'd be happy to.

Information & Ethics committee  It's a terrific question, especially considering that previous witnesses in this committee, from CSE and CSIS, repeatedly said it is up to the consumer, including children, to read the privacy policy and understand what is going on. A lot of my colleagues and members of the Priva

Information & Ethics committee  Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me to share some views about whether, and how, social media can undermine privacy, safety, security and democracy. I am Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, which is an independent, non-profit, non-pa

Industry committee  If I can, I'll add to that. Right now, we already have a problem, because some people say there is consent fatigue, but before you even see the website you've called up, the fact that you have called up that website has been communicated to Facebook through Meta Pixel and hidden

Industry committee  I think each country wants to be the first. As was questioned earlier, is that the right choice? Canada is marching forward and pushing this through, but to what benefit and, more concerning, to what harm? When it comes to the EU and the U.K., yes, they've given thought and lots

Industry committee  It might be easier to say what we don't do. We don't leave it to people who don't correctly understand what privacy is and what the technology is, does and can do. We require a broad consultation of the people who really do understand it at a deep level. That, I think, is not the

Industry committee  Yes, turn it around.

Industry committee  Turn it around, so that it's no longer up to the companies. Make it so that—thee and me—we have the authority to grant permission to the companies. When we look at that, I caution that, when it comes to companies or legislation, it will require age verification. We already have

Industry committee  I'm very pleased to see recently kids in my neighbourhood, seven-, eight- or 10-year-olds, walking without a parent at arm's length, without an adult. From some psychology experts in the States, there was a report recently that children have suffered because they have not been al

Industry committee  On privacy legislation, we all have a right to privacy without an age limit, but when it comes to children, we already have children's information being gathered surreptitiously and shared with the data broker industry without consent—of their own or their parents'.

Industry committee  Of course it's ethically wrong. It's reprehensible. It doesn't give parents, guardians or the kids any say. Then they get bombarded with all sorts of...whether it's online ads, bots or negative commentary. We know now that—

Industry committee  I think you would be failing as a parent. I also have children. I think it's incumbent on all of us, whether we have children or not, to protect the kids. Whatever goes online now, they get to live with for the rest of their lives, and it gets monitored. Yes, it would be an abdic

Industry committee  It's going to be a monumental task to do it, yes. I've never encountered anything where it's been possible to create an exhaustive list—conceptual and categories perhaps. It has to be able to be expanded and reviewed—expanded is necessary—frequently.