Privacy branch probing online marijuana survey
The Access and Privacy Branch of Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice is examining concerns around the province’s survey on recreational marijuana use after a University of Regina professor identified potential vulnerabilities within the online tool.
Marc Spooner, a professor who specializes in qualitative and participatory action research, originally raised concerns about the fact anyone in Canada — and potentially around the globe — can take the survey.
He argues the survey is “invalid” as a tool for consultation on public policy in Saskatchewan, as there’s no way to determine who has been taking the survey, or if it’s been compromised by a form of hacking called “freeping ” where an online measure is hijacked by a certain group or those with a specific agenda.
In response to Spooner’s concerns, Drew Wilby, executive director of communications with the ministry of Justice said they wanted to ensure Saskatchewan residents working or studying outside of the province could provide feedback.
Wilby also said a “data-scrubbing ” process will occur to eliminate “possible junk or repetitive responses” before analysis starts, but Spooner said this raises further concerns.
Spooner, who ran for the federal NDP in 2011, said the fact a data scrub is even possible indicates the survey has been collecting information that could potentially identify a respondent — like an IP address — despite the fact the survey indicates data collected is “non-identifying.”
“If they’re able to, like I said, do this data scrubbing and eliminate junk and repetitive responses, then they’re gathering some identifying information, because otherwise, how would they be able to do that?” Spooner asked, calling the situation a “Catch-22.”
He claims a data scrubbing process wouldn’t be possible if the survey was anonymous.
“At first, I was just concerned, thinking as a public policy matter, this is not a good consultation, but now it’s alarm,” he said, adding he feels this could be a “very serious” data and privacy breach.
Chantelle Probe, director of the ministry of Justice’s Access and Privacy Branch, said it has received Spooner’s concerns and are “looking at responding” to his questions. The StarPhoenix requested an interview with a representative from the Justice ministry on the privacy concerns brought forward, but a statement was provided instead.
“Concerns that are brought forward to the Ministry are taken seriously and will be examined by the Access and Privacy Division,” the statement explained. “The Ministry has received Dr. Spooner’s concerns and is reviewing them internally. At this point, it’s too early for the Ministry to speak to any details about the concerns.”
Information on the SurveyGizmo website — the company that provided the government tools to create the survey — indicates IP addresses, alongside a person’s longitude and latitude, are pieces of information that can be collected through a survey, but a statement from SurveyGizmo Tuesday said IP addresses are not collected automatically.
“Each survey can be tailored according to the services offered at the plan level that is purchased,” the statement said, noting SurveyGizmo “did not construct this survey” nor does it “own the survey or the data.”
Saskatchewan NDP Justice critic and party leader Nicole Sarauer said she feels the consultation process has been flawed from the start, saying consultations should have started earlier and lasted longer.
She said it’s important that members of the public are confident their opinions and information are kept secure and properly represented.
She feels the survey should be “re-done in a matter the Saskatchewan people can trust the results.”
“There’s a lot of concern about potential weaknesses in this survey and that needs to be taken seriously by the ministry,” she said.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s very important for the ministry to consult on this issue and consult widely, but they should have been doing it months ago.”
A second statement from Justice indicates the survey will remain open as it reviews the concerns, but said there’s no timeline in regards to when the review will be complete. It also noted while the ministry appreciates Spooner has brought his concerns forward “these concerns do not automatically invalidate the survey.”
The survey, which is open until Oct. 6, is only one tool the Government of Saskatchewan is using to consult on the legalization of recreational marijuana, with the statement noting: “multiple ministries have been consulting with stakeholders since the announcement of cannabis legalization.”
There’s a lot of concern about potential weaknesses in this survey and that needs to be taken seriously by the ministry.