By Canadian Press

Feds declined offer from privacy commissioner for advice on collection of phone data

Feb 9, 2022 | 1:14 PM

OTTAWA — The federal privacy commissioner says his offer to advise the government on the implications of collecting data from millions of mobile phones during the COVID-19 pandemic was rebuffed.

Daniel Therrien told a House of Commons committee this week that he offered to review how the data was being anonymized, but the government consulted its own privacy advisers instead.

Members of Parliament passed a motion Tuesday that called on the government to suspend a plan to extend the collection of mobile-phone location data until privacy concerns are addressed.  

The Public Health Agency of Canada has said the data would be used to help the government understand travel patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The office of Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says that data does not contain personal information that would identify anyone and it is committed to safeguarding privacy.  

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Therrien says he is currently investigating complaints about the collection of mobile-phone data and told the ethics committee he also plans to look at whether people could be “re-identified” from the anonymized data.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2022. 

The Canadian Press