Off the Grid: Pinpointing Location-based Technologies and the Law

Author

Geoffrey White

Organization

Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)

Published

2015

Summary

Through a detailed literature review and comparative analysis of other jurisdictions, a national telephone survey of consumer attitudes, and consultation with stakeholders and leading academics, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has assessed the suitability of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to location-based technologies in light of Canadians' attitudes and growing privacy concerns. Do the existing rules capture the types of location-based technology initiatives that are emerging, and are consumers sufficiently informed of when and how their location-based data is being used? Or are these initiatives “off the grid” – operating contrary to broader social norms of Canadian society?

This report outlines strong consumer concern over the collection and use of personal information, wide variation in collection and use practices by businesses, and a general lack of transparency of such practices. Therefore, it is essential that consumers have an effective legal framework to protect them from the rapid developments in information collection technology, especially those capturing location.

This report finds that location is an increasingly sought, increasingly tracked piece of information that can reveal much about individuals, and that Canadians are concerned about location-basedtracking. This report concludes that location about individuals should be considered highly sensitive personal information and should warrant strict legal protection. This report concludes that the contextual, principles-based approach to privacy in the federal privacy law (the Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act or “PIPEDA”) may not sufficiently protect Canadians from having information about their location over-collected (or surreptitiously collected), misused, and inappropriately disclosed, particularly by third parties.

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OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database