Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

Comité permanent de l'accès à l'information, de la protection des renseignements personnels et de l'éthique

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 18, 2019 -

Today, Bob Zimmer, MP and Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, presented in the House of Commons a report entitled Privacy and Digital Government Services.

The Committee’s report makes eight recommendations to the federal government that pertain to privacy and digital government services. One key recommendation is to modernize privacy legislation by adopting the Committee's recommendations in previous reports.

The other recommendations of the Committee ask the Government of Canada to:

• Uphold principles relating to data minimization and de-identification in the implementation of digital government services;
• Work to increase the public trust in digital government services;
• Work to ensure that the appropriate culture is in place in the public service for an effective deployment of digital government services on a large scale;
• Promote the connection of various departmental databases to a digital backbone to allow for secure and controlled sharing of data;
• Work to ensure that reliable, affordable Internet access is extended to rural and remote areas even as services are digitized in areas already serviced;
• Consult Indigenous peoples when developing digital government services; and
• Establish, in collaboration with provincial, municipal, and Indigenous governments, guidelines and principles for smart city projects.

“As governments examine ways to digitize their services, we as a committee believed it was important to study how these changes could affect the privacy of Canadians. Throughout the course of this study we learned of the advances that federal services in Canada are making toward digitalization, and while these changes may be necessary, our committee wishes to once again reiterate that the priority must be protecting the privacy and security of Canadians.”

Bob Zimmer, Chair of the Committee

“Digital government has huge potential to improve services for Canadians, but its success depends on new privacy laws and technology that puts citizens in control of their personal information.”

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Vice-Chair of the Committee

“This report was an important step in bringing our privacy laws into the 21st century and to grapple with the tough problems posed by new technologies. I hope Canadians will find it valuable.”

Charlie Angus, Vice-Chair of the Committee

The Committee held twelve public meetings as part of this study and heard from thirty-three witnesses. The witness testimony heard by the Committee is available on the Parliament of Canada’s website.

The Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has 10 members. It is chaired by Bob Zimmer (Prince George–Peace River–Northern Rockies), with vice-chairs Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches East York) and Charlie Angus (Timmins–James Bay). The other members are Frank Baylis (Pierrefonds Dollard), Mona Fortier (Ottawa–Vanier), Jacques Gourde (Lévis–Lotbinière), the Honourable Peter Kent (Thornhill), Michel Picard (Montarville), Raj Saini (Kitchener Centre), and Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West–Nepean).