Privacy and Access Council of Canada

The voice for privacy and access

News & Views

Have Your Say about Bill C-26

A new Canadian law — Bill C-26 An Act respecting cyber security, amending the Telecommunications Act — will "authorize the Governor in Council and the Minister of Industry to direct telecommunications service providers to do anything, or refrain from doing anything, that is necessary to secure the Canadian telecommunications system" and "designate any service or system as a … [Read more...] about Have Your Say about Bill C-26

Have Your Say on AIDA

Minister Champagne's proposed amendments to AIDA (Part 3 of Bill C-27) are now available and speak to the future of privacy and artificial intelligence in Canada. PACC will be considering this material as it prepares a submission for the INDU Committee as a follow-up to Sharon Polsky's recent appearance before the INDU Committee.PACC members are invited to review the … [Read more...] about Have Your Say on AIDA

Let’s Talk Federal Regulations

The Treasury Board of Canada has proposed allowing all federal regulatory organizations to incorporate internal documents "by reference" to have the same force of law as regulations, without the need to make regulatory changes each time the document is updated.If approved, civil servants will be able to revise internal documents, with the changes … [Read more...] about Let’s Talk Federal Regulations

Clinical Trial Consultation

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Health Canada has opened a public consultation seeking feedback on proposed Clinical Trials Regulations. The proposal contemplates decentralized or hybrid trial clinical trial designs for trials involving pharmaceuticals, biologics, and radiopharmaceuticals conducted in humans in Canada. Draft guidance issued in 2025 provides practical direction across … [Read more...] about Clinical Trial Consultation

Bell, Let’s Talk about the Unintended consequences of revealing mental health issues

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On the convergence of Bell Canada's 'Let's Talk' day (January 25) and Data Privacy Day (January 28), let's think of the unintended consequences of revealing mental health issues on social media platforms where "any information you share may be read, collected, or used by other users" including other social media platforms. Publicly available posts can be monitored and … [Read more...] about Bell, Let’s Talk about the Unintended consequences of revealing mental health issues

Worldwide Associations United in Supporting Encryption

Encryption is crucial to the global digital economy. If online services cannot use strong technical protection mechanisms like encryption, users of those services would not be able to trust that their sensitive data, including financial and health information, is safe from bad actors. If organizations cannot rely on effective data protection mechanisms like encryption, data … [Read more...] about Worldwide Associations United in Supporting Encryption

“National Sprint” on AI Strategy

More than 160 signatories, including 40+ organizations and more than 120 field experts, human rights advocates, and community representatives across Canada, have signed a Joint Civil Society Letter Opposing ISED's "National Sprint" on AI Strategy. The consultation process of the "National Sprint" suggests serious disregard for the Canadian public’s known and wide-ranging … [Read more...] about “National Sprint” on AI Strategy

Statement on Superintelligence

More than 65,000 people have signed the Statement on Superintelligence, released October 22. Signatories span many backgrounds and beliefs, including: The short-and-sweet Statement calls for “a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is The Statement has had worldwide coverage, from the Associated Press, … [Read more...] about Statement on Superintelligence