(Ottawa) Dozens of experts, academics and civil society organizations are calling on the federal government to remove the artificial intelligence component of its privacy bill, saying both issues must be studied separately.
Last year, the Liberals introduced a privacy bill aimed at giving Canadians more control over how their personal data is used by commercial entities.
The legislative piece also defined the fines that would be imposed on non-compliant organizations and presented new rules surrounding the use of artificial intelligence.
However, in a letter sent Monday to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, 45 signatories argue that the current provisions of the bill “do not protect the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens against the risks linked to the rapid development of artificial intelligence”.
“Undeniably, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is not the bill that Canadians deserve. An adjustment is necessary, otherwise (it) will have to undergo a major overhaul in order to take into account the reservations that we raise here,” write the signatories of the letter.
The signatories argue that Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada should not be the main “nor the sole drafter of a bill that could have profound impacts on human rights, labor and culture.”
In their missive, the signatories assert that even if the section on artificial intelligence was removed from the bill, provisions on artificial intelligence could still be put in place by 2025.
“There is no need to start from scratch to significantly improve the law,” they say.
But by doing so, the signatories believe that MPs would have more time to focus on other aspects of Bill C-27, which “raise significant concerns about the right to privacy in Canada “.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Coalition for International Civil Liberties Monitoring and the League for Rights and Liberties are among the 19 organizations that signed the letter, as did 26 individual experts.
