Politics

Privacy provision in online streaming legislation accidentally deleted, says the federal government

The federal government is currently investigating what appears to be the accidental removal of a privacy provision in its online streaming law. This issue came to light when University of Ottawa Law Professor Michael Geist pointed out that the privacy provision was removed two months after the bill was passed due to a change in another bill.

The Heritage department has acknowledged the problem and stated that they are looking into it. A spokesperson for the department said, “We have recently been informed of what seems to be an unintended supervision in a coordinating amendment and investigate it.”

Geist commented on the situation, noting that the government’s statement indicates that this was indeed a mistake. He emphasized the importance of privacy and urged for a swift resolution to the issue.

The Online Streaming Act was introduced to update Canada’s Broadcasting Act to regulate online streamers like Netflix. During the legislative process, an amendment was made to ensure that the law is interpreted in a way that respects individuals’ privacy rights.

Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne expressed her disappointment with the mistake and stressed the need for a prompt correction. She highlighted that there should have been multiple levels of verification to prevent such errors.

Two months after the Online Streaming Act became law, an official bill was approved. Unfortunately, this bill inadvertently replaced the privacy provision with a language-related provision, resulting in the removal of privacy safeguards from the legislation.

While the Heritage department insists that existing privacy laws still apply to the CRTC and broadcasters, Miville-Dechêne and Geist argue that the specific privacy provision was necessary to ensure consistency with Canadian privacy laws.

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Monica Auer, executive director of the Forum For Research and Policy in Communications, raised concerns about the potential confusion caused by having two conflicting provisions in the legislation. She emphasized the importance of clarity in legal language to avoid misinterpretation by the courts.

Overall, the accidental removal of the privacy provision in the Online Streaming Act highlights the need for careful attention to detail in legislative processes to prevent such oversights in the future.

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