“This is where there’s friction between companies and the privacy commissioner. The privacy commissioner’s draft guidance says that cost savings and convenience in the reduction of customer friction is not going to be a sufficient rationale for using biometrics. It has to be more than that, given the trade-off with privacy.”
Children’s privacy is a focus in Canadian privacy law reform and privacy law around the world, says Max Jarvie, a partner at Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg LLP, with expertise in technology, cybersecurity, data privacy, and life sciences.
Jarvie appeared as a witness before the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology last November while it considered Bill C-27. In his own session, and in the previous sessions he had watched, the concern around children’s privacy was a “recurring theme,” including from Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne.
The legislation states that the personal information of minors will be considered sensitive, which “unlocks all kinds of additional obligations,” says Jarvie. He adds that the bill has several exceptions to the right of deletion, but those exceptions do not apply to the personal information of minors.
Child protection is also a theme internationally. Last year, France enacted the Digital Majority Law, which requires social networks to obtain the parents’ express consent if a child under the age of 15 registers for the service. Once registered, the social networks must activate a device to monitor how much time minors spend on the service and provide regular updates.