Why Digital Rights Now
URGENT: Demand Canada’s federal government to step up on digital rights, now.
Sign this petition calling on Canada to create a digital rights strategy – digitalrightsnow.ca
In addition to ongoing debates about smart cities and surveillance capitalism, numerous recent events demonstrate how dangerous it is for Canadians to continue without human rights protections that are designed for the digital age
In the past week alone:
- The City of Toronto approved the use of ShotSpotter policing technology, which uses microphones in public spaces to detect and triangulate gunshots — and raises numerous unanswered questions about privacy, data protection, and civil liberties.
- We learned Cadillac Fairview Malls, which owns shopping centers in 6 provinces, is using covert facial recognition software on shoppers without consent.
- We learned Canadian Border Services is using ancestry DNA websites to aid in deporting migrants.
It is urgent that Canadians call on our government to respond to these increasingly concerning developments by including a digital rights strategy as part of the ongoing national data strategy consultation.
This digital rights strategy should include a discussion of necessary changes to Canada’s federal privacy legislation: the Privacy Act and PIPEDA. These federal pieces of legislation are critical because they impact citizens from coast to coast, as they are interpreted and passed down to provinces and cities. But they are outdated and ill-equipped to protect Canadians in the digital age.
This digital rights strategy should also include a discussion about data minimization: collecting personal data only when it is absolutely needed; deciding if some types of data should never be collected; keeping data only for as long as necessary, and limiting access to only those who truly need it.
Canadians have not signed up for surveillance capitalism as a social norm. Outdated models for data ownership, consent, privacy, and more are leaving us vulnerable. It is negligent to continue going forward into a digital economy without social consent regarding how technology impacts our lives.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Sign this petition calling on Canada’s federal government to include digital rights in their ongoing data strategy consultation.
- Send an email to the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner to express your concern about the recent ShotSpotter technology purchase approval at the City of Toronto. The Commissioner has been asked to review the technology before it is launched in Toronto, so this is our best chance to intervene.
There are several critical unanswered questions about how ShotSpotter will impact residents’ privacy and civil liberties. I ask that you address these questions in your review, and recommend that Toronto not implement the technology in response to any concerns you identify.
These critical questions include:
- Might the use of ShotSpotter infringe on residents’ rights under the Human Rights Code?
- What are the risks and implications of audio being obtained without a warrant?
- Who will own data collected by ShotSpotter?
- Where will data collected by ShotSpotter be stored? How long will it be kept?
- Who will have access to ShotSpotter data? How might this be impacted by where the data is stored? How will they access it?
- Will independent audits of ShotSpotter technology, data, and practices be possible — particularly given it is a private company?
- Will the agreement with ShotSpotter limit the public’s ability to file successful access to information requests?
I also urge you to support the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in completing and submitting a legal risk analysis, as the organization offered to do for City Council.
Finally, I ask that you make your findings and recommendations publicly available so that the residents of Toronto have full and transparent information about your conclusions.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.