CARL Submission to the Ontario Government Consultation: Strengthening Privacy Protections in Ontario

As preservers of the public record and defenders of freedom of speech and access to information, the research library community favours a legislative or regulatory approach to the RTBF that: 1. [...] Regulating personal data collection, storage, and usage to data that is relevant, adequate, and absolutely necessary for carrying out the purpose for which the data is processed, would provide protection for individual privacy and human rights both by reducing the risk of exposure of consumers’ data, but also by minimizing the exploitation by industry of consumers’ data for the purposes of financi. [...] By implementing the principles of Privacy by Design1 and Human Rights by Design into the very basics of AI design and operation, the act of “checking against privacy, human rights, and the basic tenets of constitutional democracy” is effectively embedded into the process. [...] The pervasiveness of AI and the lack of understanding by Canadians of its depth, reach and authority2 is what has created the need for explainable AI (XAI) or the right to explanation. [...] The OECD AI Principles provide an example of some of the questions that should be considered by industry to be transparent and explainable5 We see there is a great amount of misunderstanding by the general public of AI and its pervasiveness.