Federal Legislation – Bill C-27
Bill C-27 is officially agenda item number one for the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology (INDU). The Committee who will eventually vote on the fate of this multi-faceted legislation has begun the process of hearing witness testimony with the first half of the debates focusing solely on the newly proposed federal privacy legislation – CPPA. The AI portion of the Bill – AIDA – will be discussed once the privacy discussion is complete. While it appears that the consensus is that we are in dire need of new privacy protections here in Canada there are still many questions around the definition of and protection of minors, the legitimate interest clause, the inclusion of a Tribunal and the definition of anonymization.
We do expect the privacy law to be passed through Committee (with some amendments) and we also expect things to get somewhat contentious once AIDA is in the hot seat. There seems to be shared consensus that bundling AI with privacy was not the best idea and that more time and consultation is required if we are to get a law governing AI right. We will continue to keep you updated, or you can watch the full witness testimony here.
Meanwhile the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is seeking input to update guidance for organizations related to handling biometric information for both public and private sector organizations. Responses to the consultation are due by January 12th – full details can be found here.
Quebec’s Law 25
Earlier this week the CAI released their updated consent guidance for Law 25 as well as a summary report of the feedback they received during the consultative process. IAB Canada is currently conducting a review of the information provided and will be hosting a member session to unpack the clarified rules and provide clarity around the updates in the coming days. Please reach out to [email protected] if you would like to join the discussion.