Mandatory Census Doesn't Raise Privacy Concerns, Abolishing it Does

Trudo Lemmens
Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Is privacy really at the heart of mandatory census change?

(This commentary first appeared in a slightly different version in the Hill Times on August 23, 2010) 

Big policy decisions are always a balancing act. Nothing unusual thus when the government invokes one interest—privacy--to justify the cancellation of the mandatory long census, which serves another interest--the gathering of reliable information about Canadian citizens for the purpose of good policy making. The increased promotion of privacy could arguably outweigh the negative impact of this decision, which critics say will affect the quality of the data of Statistics Canada.

A crucial claim which has, however, not really been questioned is whether this is indeed about privacy. Invoking privacy in the context of the collection of personal data seems intuitively appealing. Yet, using it to justify the abolishing of a mandatory form reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept. Worse, the proposed changes to the government census do not diminish but rather increase privacy concerns.

Stop Hiding Behind the Phone Book, Mr. Toews

Lisa Austin
Thursday, December 8, 2011

This commentary was first published in The Globe and Mail  on Dec. 6, 2011.

Canada’s federal Privacy Commissioner, along with her provincial and territorial counterparts, has serious concerns regarding the federal government’s proposed lawful access legislation. These include the fact that the government has provided no evidence for the necessity of this expansion of state surveillance powers or why it requires departures from the standards of judicial oversight we usually apply when the police want access to private information. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has responded by throwing the phone book at them, including in a recent letter to The Globe.

Pages