How Can We Protect Canadians’ Privacy in Our Digital World?

New corporate technologies for mass surveillance and gathering personal data endanger personal privacy as never before. AI can analyze vast amounts of data, making it easier to identify patterns, infer personal characteristics, and exploit information in ways that were previously impossible or prohibitively expensive. The federal government’s answer is a highly controversial new bill [C-36, the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act]. Is it the answer to the problem or will it make matters worse? Does it provide the greater privacy protection Canadians need and deserve? CFE asked two of Canada’s leading privacy experts to discuss what is needed to protect Canadians privacy, how the new legislation measures up, and what should be done now. With experts: Tamir Israel is Director of the Privacy, Surveillance, and Technology Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association Teresa Scassa is the Canada Research Chair in Information Law and Policy at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law and a 2024 winner of the Piccaso Award celebrating privacy leadership around the world. ABOUT THE PODCAST: The Centre for Free Expression Podcast - Tough issues, thoughtful talk Subscribe & Listen On Apple Podcasts: https://shorturl.at/rKJT7 Spotify: https://shorturl.at/B0YZb Amazon Music: https://shorturl.at/Ea7pr Democracy is an ongoing public discussion about what is legitimate in our society—and what is not. That conversation doesn’t belong to any one group, and it cannot be settled once and for all. Democracy prospers when everyone has the right and opportunity to be informed and to participate in public discourse. Every two weeks, the Centre for Free Expression Podcast explores important questions people have about our society, their rights to be engaged, their opportunities to be informed, the challenges to these rights and opportunities, and how we can overcome those challenges. ABOUT THE CENTRE FOR FREE EXPRESSION: Genuine democracy, advancement of knowledge, individual self-development, and social justice depend on a society in which freedom of expression and the right to know are a reality for everyone. The Centre for Free Expression (CFE) works to advance these rights through public education, advocacy, law reform, research, advisory services, policy analysis, assistance to courts, and organizational collaborations. The CFE works in collaboration with academic and civil society organizations across Canada and internationally and is based in the Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). For more information about us and the work we do visit our website: https://www.cfe.torontomu.ca Sign up for our Newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/yc435tv9 FOLLOW US: Facebook:   / centreforfreeexpresssion   Twitter/X:   / cfe_tmu   LinkedIn:   / the-centre-for-free-expression   Instagram:   / cfe.tmu