Toronto Sidewalk is subject to applicable privacy laws and principles.

Canada is known for many things – beautiful landscapes, friendly people, our cultural diversity, our social openness. At the same time, we have built a reputation as a leader in privacy, addressing the tech giants first and foremost.

With Sidewalk Toronto, we show our commitment to privacy through healthy debates about how information and personal data will be processed. But this debate ignores the reality of existing privacy protections in Canada and I hope to contribute to the crucial privacy debate and Sidewalk Toronto by providing three clarifications.

First, the project does not evolve in a legal vacuum. In Canada, strong privacy laws govern the use of all personal information. For the private sector, the federal law on the protection of personal information and electronic documents allows businesses to stay online.

In Ontario, Ontario's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act restricts the use of personal information by the provincial government. Personal information used by the federal government is protected by the Privacy Act.

Surveillance is often mentioned in the context of Sidewalk Toronto. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario as well as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada already have well-established guidelines that set out the limits of the privacy policy. use of CCTV and how this information can be used. Sidewalk Labs is subject to these rules.

Any corporation operating in Ontario is subject to the laws of the land. In fact, there are examples in the public and private sectors in which organizations have had to adapt their practices to ensure adequate consent or demonstrate the need to use personal data. Toronto sidewalk will not be different.

In many cases, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner have managed to make even dramatic improvements in the area of ​​privacy and security. protection of personal information by requiring public and private sector organizations to comply with Canadian privacy. law if they are to operate within our borders.

This is not a reason to be complacent. This is a reason to take advantage of the strength of Canada's privacy law.

Second, the right to privacy is recognized in Canada as a human right. The strength of Canada's privacy law, however difficult the current technology environment may be, is based on its fundamental principles.

As a fundamental right, privacy can only be restricted by manifestly reasonable limits. This means that an appropriate balance must be found between privacy protection and the legitimate need for organizations to use personal information, depending on the circumstances and only with valid consent.

As a fundamental right, privacy in Canada is protected by principles rather than a set of specific rules that would become obsolete with each new technology. Our privacy law is structured around the principles of individual empowerment. Personal information is protected regardless of the form in which it is stored (such as print or digital), their consent must be provided to be valid, users have the right to access their personal information and organizations to whom they are entrusted are legally bound to use them for which they have been provided and to protect them.

There is also a remedy if necessary. You can file a complaint with federal or provincial privacy commissions. If you are not aware of a violation of the law on the protection of privacy, the commissioners can act on their own initiative, by their own vigilance, as they often do, to ensure that the organizations comply with the laws of the country.

The third and final point is that any badessment of the confidentiality of the Sidewalk Toronto project would be premature. The fact is that we are only at the very beginning of the process of developing the Sidewalk Toronto plan. This means that we are still at the stage of identifying each privacy risk to which we will apply all available privacy protections. And these protections are very real.

Chantal Bernier is the former Acting Privacy Commissioner of Canada and Head of National Practice, Privacy and Cyber ​​Security, Dentons.