StatCan gets too snoopy
Statistics Canada is the agency that collects data on Canada’s economy, society and environment. The purpose is to provide decision-makers with key information to function effectively. On the face of it the mandate makes sense. But now the agency wants to collect people’s individual banking transactions and sensitive personal identification information. Has it gone too far?
Under the Statistics Act, the agency is required to collect, compile, analyze, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, financial, social, economic and general activities and condition of the people of Canada. By law all Canadian households must complete a census of population survey. Businesses are also obligated to provide information on labour force and agricultural surveys. The act also calls for a fine of up to $500 and/ or up to three months in jail for refusing to participate in a mandatory survey. In other words, the law provides the agency with powers that may be viewed as excessive by some.
This brings me to my next point concerning government data collection. Some years ago, the Harper government decided to eliminate the long-form census, which collected data about housing, transport, employment, income and other key attributes required by various tiers of governments to plan and deliver public services. The protest from then chief statistician Munir Sheikh led to him resigning his position. In some ways I can understand the concern about who collects data and for what purpose. But at what point are the agency’s powers too excessive?
The ability for governments to collect data through the information system is so easy that what is being collected should concern citizens. Global News reported this week that the Canadian government will be asking financial institutions to collect and provide data from some 500,000 Canadians without their knowledge. According to Global: “the national statistical agency plans to collect ‘individual-level financial transactions data’ and sensitive information, like social insurance numbers (SIN), from Canadian financial institutions to develop a ‘new institutional personal information bank.’”
Global also reported that StatCan has been lifting up to 15 years of creditrating information from international credit rating firms, possibly affecting millions of Canadians. What is more alarming is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending these actions, insisting that “High quality and timely data are critical to ensuring that government programs remain relevant and effective for Canadians.” This is despite the fact that this latest collection of data is being done without the consent of Canadians. It seems that citizens’ personal privacy is not a concern for this government.
Canadians should not only be alarmed that their private data will be collected without their consent, but that they may not be assured that their information may not be used by criminals in case of a breach. In 2018 we have already seen major hacks of data at Cathay Pacific, affecting 9.4 million passengers; at Facebook, affecting 90 million users; and at Uber, affecting 57 million customers, to name just a few. Government computer servers are no more immune from infiltration than are private ones and there is no guarantee that any data collected by government organizations is immune form cyber hacking and theft.
This latest government collection of data, examining individual bank transactions, with personal identification, is too much like Big Brother. While there may have been concerns about the abolition of the longform census, we should be more concerned about the powers of StatCan, and the government’s brazen intrusion in our private lives and its inability to protect our privacy.