[cs_content][cs_element_section _id=”1″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”2″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”3″ ][cs_element_layout_grid _id=”4″ ][cs_element_layout_cell _id=”5″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”6″ ][cs_element_headline _id=”7″ ][cs_content_seo]Technology and the Charter
Leading Canada in understanding how emerging information technologies impact rights and freedoms
\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”8″ ][cs_element_button _id=”9″ ][cs_content_seo]Read the Latest Report\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_cell][cs_element_layout_cell _id=”10″ ][/cs_element_layout_cell][/cs_element_layout_grid][cs_element_gap _id=”11″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”12″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”13″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”14″ ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id=”15″ ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id=”16″ ][cs_element_text _id=”17″ ][cs_content_seo]Emerging information technologies are transforming how Canadians interact with each other and the world. Digital Identification frameworks, facial recognition, biometrics, big data, social credit systems, and AI are being integrated within social, economic, and governmental systems across Canada and the globe. The actual and potential privacy impacts of these technologies on the rights and freedoms of Canadians are not being adequately investigated by governments, lawmakers, or policy designers.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”18″ ][cs_element_video _id=”19″ ][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”20″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”21″ ][cs_element_line _id=”22″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”23″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”24″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”25″ ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id=”26″ ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id=”27″ ][cs_element_text _id=”28″ ][cs_content_seo]Latest Developments
\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”29″ ][cs_element_line _id=”30″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][cs_element_layout_row _id=”31″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”32″ ][cs_element_image _id=”33″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”34″ ][cs_element_text _id=”35″ ][cs_content_seo]Justice Centre Weekly
Learn about digital ID and the value of privacy
July 14, 2023\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”36″ ][cs_element_button _id=”37″ ][cs_content_seo]Watch the podcast\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”38″ ][cs_element_image _id=”39″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”40″ ][cs_element_text _id=”41″ ][cs_content_seo]Speak your mind
Your privacy matters. Stop Privacy-Violating digital ID
Ongoing\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”42″ ][cs_element_button _id=”43″ ][cs_content_seo]Sign the petition\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”44″ ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id=”45″ ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id=”46″ ][cs_element_image _id=”47″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”48″ ][cs_element_text _id=”49″ ][cs_content_seo]Justice Centre reports and analysis
Digital ID, Surveillance, and the Value of Privacy | Part Two
Released August 9, 2023\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”50″ ][cs_element_button _id=”51″ ][cs_content_seo]Read the report\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”52″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”53″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”54″ ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id=”55″ ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id=”56″ ][cs_element_text _id=”57″ ][cs_content_seo]Our analysis suggests that information technologies (or the ways in which these technologies are being used) may generate Charter violations. These violations engage the following Charter-protected rights and freedoms:
Privacy rights
Security rights
Mobility rights
Equality rights
Freedom of expression
Freedoms of assembly and association
The Justice Centre is applying expert research and analysis to the information technology sector from the perspective of the Charter. Continue reading to learn more about our priority research areas.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_text _id=”58″ ][cs_content_seo]Research Area: Digital ID and the Charter
The context: An identification document is a solution to the social problem of establishing a sufficient degree of trust between parties for a transaction to occur. The identification documents with which Canadians are most familiar (e.g., driver’s licenses and passports) help Canadians to prove specific claims about themselves or to prove that they are who they say they are when interacting with people, organizations, or governments. Governments and policy designers claim that Digital ID will be the mere digital counterparts to traditional identification documents.
The problem: This is not the case. Many of the digital ID programs being designed in Canada and in jurisdictions across the globe have tracking and profiling capabilities. That is, many of these programs allow governments and partnering agencies to collect data about the intimate identities of their users across time, including data about histories, behaviours, preferences, interests, and biometrics. Whenever captured, such data allows governments and partnering agencies to develop complex profiles of the intimate identities of their users. In many cases, governments use the data they have collected about Canadians to unreasonably limit their Charter-protected rights and freedoms.
Why it matters: We suggest that governments should not be in the business of tracking or profiling their citizens. Digital ID programs with these kinds of surveillance functionalities violate the privacy of Canadians, and we suggest further that privacy is necessary for the enjoyment of security, autonomy, and human dignity. Further, these programs could cause equality issues, access issues, and security issues.
For example, the Known Traveller Digital Identity of the World Economic Forum generates concerns about consent, access to domestic and international travel, and inequality. The Pan-Canadian Trust Framework of the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada generates concerns about the use of biometric data (e.g., users’ typing speed, touch screen pressure, or walking gait) and about access to essential goods and services. Finally, legislation in Québec would allow governments and corporations to develop profiles of users’ workplace performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, or behaviour.
What you can do: Stay informed about how emerging information technologies are impacting your Charter rights and freedoms. Ask your democratic representatives to make privacy protections a priority for governments and policy designers.
Download our Digital ID brochure.
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[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”59″ ][cs_element_button _id=”60″ ][cs_content_seo]Read the report\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”61″ ][cs_element_video _id=”62″ ][cs_element_gap _id=”63″ ][cs_element_text _id=”64″ ][cs_content_seo]Research Area: ArriveCAN and the Charter
The Government of Canada ArriveCAN program is a digital ID program for international travelers. First introduced on April 29, 2020, the program allowed travelers to share customs information, phone numbers, and private medical information (COVID-19 vaccination status) with border officials. The program became mandatory on November 21, 2020. Regardless of vaccination status, travelers who chose not to use ArriveCAN were subjected to fines and were required to quarantine for 14 days.
While the Government of Canada initially marketed ArriveCAN as a “convenient” and voluntary method for border agents to collect data about Canadians, ArriveCAN became mandatory after only seven months. And, while digital IDs are not always harmful, mandatory identification programs generate serious concerns about privacy and other Charter-protected rights. Whenever invasive technologies becomes normalized, it is easy for people to overlook the legal violations and ethics concerns they generate.
Canadians need to be informed about Digital ID programs like ArriveCAN and their potentially harmful impacts on privacy and other Charter-protected rights. Canadians need to make conscientious and informed decisions about the appropriate use of such technologies at our international borders. Explore below the ways in which ArriveCAN engages the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_accordion _modules=”66,67,68,69,70″ _id=”65″ ][/cs_element_accordion][cs_element_text _id=”71″ ][cs_element_text _id=”72″ ][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”73″ ][cs_element_line _id=”74″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”75″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”76″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”77″ ][cs_element_layout_row_2 _id=”78″ ][cs_element_layout_column_2 _id=”79″ ][cs_element_text _id=”80″ ][cs_content_seo]Partner with us in producing independent research and education
Our research and analysis is funded by Canadians like you. We choose not to accept any government funding so that we can remain independent and pursue the issues that matter most to Canadians without interference. Please consider making a contribution to the advancement of independent research on “Technology and the Charter” today.\n\n[/cs_content_seo][cs_element_gap _id=”81″ ][cs_element_button _id=”82″ ][cs_content_seo]Support this research\n\n[/cs_content_seo][/cs_element_layout_column_2][/cs_element_layout_row_2][/cs_element_layout_column][cs_element_layout_column _id=”83″ ][cs_element_line _id=”84″ ][/cs_element_layout_column][/cs_element_layout_row][/cs_element_section][cs_element_section _id=”85″ ][cs_element_layout_row _id=”86″ ][cs_element_layout_column _id=”87″ ][cs_text _bp_base=”4_4″]
News Releases – COVID-19
Apr 14th, 2020 – Saskatchewan Health Authority challenged for violating Charter freedoms
April 6, 2020 – Alberta government gives itself sweeping new powers to create new laws without Legislative approval.
April 4, 2020 – Justice Centre Statement on COVID-19
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Related News & Articles
April 14, 2020 – Ted Cruz: Social-distancing restrictions are fine — petty authoritarianism is not – New York Post
APRIL 14, 2020 – Mass gathering: Cancellation of Saskatchewan drive-in church service questioned – The Canadian Press
April 13, 2020 – The Coronavirus Is Exposing Little Tyrants All Over The Country – The Federalist
April 7, 2020 – WHO calls for “dignified” seizure of sick family members Rebel News
April 7, 2020 – Tucker Carlson: There has to be a more balanced course on coronavirus than the one we’re on now – Fox News
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Columns & Reports – COVID-19
April 14, 2020 – Alberta’s Bill 10 is an affront to the rule of law By John Carpay, The National Post
April 10, 2020 – The cost of the coronavirus cure could be deadlier than the disease – By John Carpay, The Post Millenial
April 7, 2020 – Analysis of Part 3 of Alberta’s Public Health Act: (Communicable Diseases and Public Health Emergencies) – By John Carpay
April 5, 2020 – Canadian coronavirus prediction models must be transparent – By John Carpay, The Post Millenial
Mar 31st, 2020 – Careful, crises are an ideal time for the state to grab powers: we’re already seeing it in Canada – By Justice Centre board member Bruce Pardy, The Financial Post
March 20, 2020 – Justice dismantled as restrictions placed on court systems – By staff lawyer Lisa Bildy, The Post Millenial
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Columns & Reports – COVID-19
April 14, 2020 – Alberta’s Bill 10 is an affront to the rule of law By John Carpay, The National Post
April 10, 2020 – The cost of the coronavirus cure could be deadlier than the disease – By John Carpay, The Post Millenial
April 7, 2020 – Analysis of Part 3 of Alberta’s Public Health Act: (Communicable Diseases and Public Health Emergencies) – By John Carpay
April 5, 2020 – Canadian coronavirus prediction models must be transparent – By John Carpay, The Post Millenial
Mar 31st, 2020 – Careful, crises are an ideal time for the state to grab powers: we’re already seeing it in Canada – By Justice Centre board member Bruce Pardy, The Financial Post
March 20, 2020 – Justice dismantled as restrictions placed on court systems – By staff lawyer Lisa Bildy, The Post Millenial
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Related News & Articles
April 14, 2020 – Ted Cruz: Social-distancing restrictions are fine — petty authoritarianism is not – New York Post
APRIL 14, 2020 – Mass gathering: Cancellation of Saskatchewan drive-in church service questioned – The Canadian Press
April 13, 2020 – The Coronavirus Is Exposing Little Tyrants All Over The Country – The Federalist
April 7, 2020 – WHO calls for “dignified” seizure of sick family members Rebel News
April 7, 2020 – Tucker Carlson: There has to be a more balanced course on coronavirus than the one we’re on now – Fox News
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