Canadian data laws need to respect the sovereignty of Indigenous data, argue John Borrows and Lisa Austin. There are a number of provisions in which the newly-proposed Bill C-27 legislation could better align with Indigenous laws and values, and in doing so address the urgent goal of reconciliation.

Responding to Bill C-27’s proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act, Jamie Duncan and Wendy H. Wong explain why Canadians need data and privacy legislation that protects us not just from individual dangers, but collective harms as well.

How will Bill C-27’s Consumer Privacy Protection Act change the obligations of large internet platforms and search engines, especially with respect to their ability to target advertising and recommend content? Open questions remain around the new legislation that hinge on the interpretation of platforms’ necessary and legitimate interests.

Does Canada’s newly-proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act sufficiently promote and protect the digital identities of youth? Guest contributor Michael J. S. Beauvais and Leslie Regan Shade argue that the draft legislation takes a thin view of consent and choice requirements for online services, and that clearer and more stringent rules around data privacy are needed.

Will Canada’s newly-proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA) generate incentives for best practices when it comes to data privacy? SRI Associate Director Lisa Austin, Faculty Affiliates Aleksandar Nikolov and Nicolas Papernot, and Research Lead David Lie argue the CPPA’s reliance on deidentified data ensures it will fall short in protecting privacy.

In June 2022, the Canadian federal government introduced Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, which contains newly-proposed legislation relating to consumer privacy, data protection, and the first comprehensive laws governing artificial intelligence (AI) systems in Canada. In the first of a series of posts covering the potential impact of Bill C-27, SRI Policy Researcher Maggie Arai explores the bill’s key takeaways.

Everyone from users to scholars to regulators has demanded greater transparency around recommender algorithms. What kind of information would be useful to ensure transparency, and can we even agree on what we mean by “transparency”? Guest contributor Jonathan Stray explores these questions on the Schwartz Reisman blog.

Guest blogger Kees Westland explains how the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent reference opinion about carbon pricing legislation could affect the analysis of Bill C-11. Can Parliament enact minimum national standards in areas of shared jurisdiction under the trade and commerce power? As Westland observes, the inherently global nature of a problem can be an argument in favour of a federal approach.

Schwartz Reisman Director Gillian Hadfield argues that current approaches towards explainable AI are insufficient for users. What is needed instead is “justifiable AI” that can show how the decisions of an AI system are justifiable according the rules and norms of our society.

In the second of two posts, Leslie Regan Shade, Monica Jean Henderson, and Katie Mackinnon explore research on children’s and youth’s experiences of online spaces, their needs for privacy protection, and how conceptions of digital tools and the corporations that make them can be better informed through digital literacy.

In the first of two posts, Leslie Regan Shade, Monica Jean Henderson, and Katie Mackinnon explore the implications of Bill C-11 in terms of impacts on digital privacy for youth and children. The authors reflect on the need to balance online risks and opportunities for minors in the context of their research with The eQuality Project.

SRI privacy experts propose a shift to regulating “information about persons” provides better architecture to rethink contemporary privacy risks and develop a data governance framework suited to the 21st century. Part of an ongoing series of commentaries on the features, implications, and controversies surrounding privacy law reforms in an increasingly digital and data-rich context.