New laws must govern how parties use voter data

The Ontario election campaign has not even begun, but the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats are already using Facebook ads and voter data to influence its outcome.

While this strategy is a fact of life in 21st century politics and there are no indications the parties are misbehaving, if they do act inappropriately there’s nothing that can be done to stop it before the June 7 vote.

Fortunately, this isn’t the case when it comes to Canada’s federal government and safeguarding the nation’s 2019 general election.

Speaking to a parliamentary committee last week, federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien urged new rules to regulate how political parties gather and use people’s data for political ends.

The case he made for prompt change was overwhelming. And in the interests of our democracy, the government needs to act before the next federal election a year and a half from now.

The world has already seen the huge potential for private data to be abused and democracy subverted.

News reports revealed earlier this year that the British-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had collected more than 50 million Facebook profiles and used data from them in unauthorized ways in an attempt to influence elections around the world.

It’s possible, for instance, that Cambridge Analytica aided Donald Trump in becoming president of the United States and, before that, helped convince a majority of voters in the United Kingdom — possibly through the use of disinformation — to take their country out of the European Union.

Since those disturbing revelations, governments have been examining ways to control internet giants such as Facebook.

But in this country, government activism needs to extend to the political parties.

According to Privacy Commissioner Therrien, there are no controls over how Canadian political parties gather and use the data they collect on individuals to influence how people vote in elections.

The parties have been left to police themselves. And that’s a dangerous situation in this era of a polarized public and “fake news” campaigns that target specific groups of voters. How do we know we can trust all those big political parties vying for power?

The remedy, in Therrien’s opinion, is for the government to pass legislation to rein in the parties.

And he wants his office and Elections Canada to be empowered to enforce those rules.

To their credit, the Liberal and Conservative members of the privacy committee seemed receptive to Therrien’s request.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a new law is coming soon.

“I still do not see a very clear intent to act” on the part of the government, Therrien observed.

But inaction is unacceptable. As the government wades into the sticky job of regulating internet companies, it can fast-track legislation for political parties.

The privacy commissioner says the government could extend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to the parties.

There are no good reasons for the government to avoid this job.

Acting before the next federal election would bolster the country’s faith in its political leaders, offer a necessary safeguard for voters while strengthening the integrity of our democracy.

That’s the kind of electoral change Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be able to sign onto.