{"id":1973,"date":"2020-08-12T09:29:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T09:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccla.org\/?p=1973"},"modified":"2021-09-09T16:12:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T16:12:06","slug":"order-a-ride-and-say-goodbye-to-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccla.org\/fr\/privacy\/order-a-ride-and-say-goodbye-to-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Commandez une course et dites adieu \u00e0 la confidentialit\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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Order a ride and say goodbye to privacy: Quebec Act requires real time info sharing<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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The CCLA recently submitted\u00a0<\/span>its feedback<\/span>\u00a0on the\u00a0<\/span>draft regulations<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/span>Qu\u00e9bec<\/span>\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0new<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Act respecting remunerated passenger transportation by automobile<\/span><\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is one you might not have heard of and its draft regulations were published to no fanfare.\u00a0<\/span>So<\/span>\u00a0w<\/span>hat does\u00a0<\/span>this<\/span>\u00a0relatively obscure law regulating ridesharing in\u00a0<\/span>Qu\u00e9bec<\/span>\u00a0have to do with civil liberties? In the CCLA\u2019s view, the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and its regulations\u00a0<\/span>could<\/span>\u00a0have\u00a0<\/span>serious<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>implications<\/span>\u00a0for privacy in\u00a0<\/span>Qu\u00e9bec<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>, passed in\u00a0<\/span>October 2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0due to come into force\u00a0<\/span>mostly\u00a0<\/span>in October<\/span>, creates a new regulatory framework for\u00a0<\/span>remunerated passenger transportation<\/span>, such as ridesharing<\/span>. The law\u2019s passage followed years of hot dispute between the province, the city of Montreal, taxis, and ridesharing platforms<\/span>\u00a0over how rideshar<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0should be regulated<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0creat<\/span>es\u00a0<\/span>standard<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0for<\/span>\u00a0remunerated passenger transportation<\/span>, including<\/span>\u00a0uniform<\/span>\u00a0rules for licensing, fare calculation, administrative penalties<\/span>, and other core aspects of the\u00a0<\/span>passenger transporting<\/span>\u00a0business<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0What<\/span>\u00a0is<\/span>\u00a0remarkable<\/span>\u00a0about the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0from a civil liberties standpoint<\/span>, however,<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>its<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>potentially\u00a0<\/span>extreme and irrational\u00a0<\/span>intrusion into<\/span>\u00a0passengers\u2019 privacy.\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u2019s draft regulation<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0do not remedy this transgression<\/span>\u00a0or clarify its\u00a0<\/span>apparent\u00a0<\/span>irrationality<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Act<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The purpose of the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is to\u00a0<\/span>\u201cmonitor and control remunerated passenger transportation by automobile, in order to ensure the safety of passengers and the transparency of fares in keeping with the principles of sustainable development, carbon footprint reduction, and fairness among\u201d various stakeholders<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>A core component of this \u201cmonitoring\u201d is a legal framework for tracking individual\u00a0<\/span>remunerated passenger transport vehicles.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The centrepiece of the<\/span>\u00a0tracking<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>framework is the requirement that each remunerated transport vehicle\u00a0<\/span>must transmit<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>precise real-time\u00a0<\/span>location data.\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>provision also\u00a0<\/span>creates<\/span>\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>shield for riders\u2019 privacy<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>[The above conditions]<\/span>\u00a0must ensure that passengers remain anonymous; in particular, the places where the trips start and end must be indicated at a point situated 50 metres from those places or at the closest intersection, whichever is closest.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The rest of the framework fills out these core elements,\u00a0<\/span>such as<\/span>\u00a0by requiring that<\/span>\u00a0tracking device<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0be active at all times, that\u00a0<\/span>tracking\u00a0<\/span>data be transferred to relevant\u00a0<\/span>public bodies<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0other designated authorities, and\u00a0<\/span>that transport system operators transmit reports of where passenger<\/span>s\u2019<\/span>\u00a0trips began and ended to designated recipients<\/span>\u2014including the government<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The draft regulations\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The draft regulation<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0fill<\/span>\u00a0in<\/span>\u00a0many of the details missing from the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>, including a few that bear directly on individuals\u2019 privacy<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>For example,\u00a0<\/span>they\u00a0<\/span>specif<\/span>y<\/span>\u00a0the form and content of the geolocation data that must be transmitted<\/span>\u00a0to the government<\/span>\u00a0under the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The regulations, however, are perhaps more important for what they do not say<\/span>. T<\/span>he regulations do not clarify how\u00a0<\/span>passengers will\u00a0<\/span>remain<\/span>\u00a0anonymous\u00a0<\/span>despite having their information collected\u00a0<\/span>at the level of detail required by the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>And in fact, there\u2019s a growing agreement amongst\u00a0<\/span>technologists and privacy professionals that\u00a0<\/span>location data is\u00a0<\/span>both highly revealing<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(where you go tells\u00a0<\/span>others\u00a0<\/span>how you live your life) and\u00a0<\/span>virtually impossible to de-identify<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CCLA\u2019s analysis:\u00a0the\u00a0Act<\/i>\u00a0and its draft regulations\u00a0aren\u2019t just bad news for privacy, they\u2019re incoherent\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0attempts to balance the competing aims of tracking passengers\u2019 rides in real-time and respecting those passengers\u2019 privacy. The CCLA views this balance as elusive: where passengers, drivers, or vehicles are tracked, privacy is always at risk. The\u00a0<\/span>intrusion on<\/span>\u00a0privacy\u00a0<\/span>created<\/span>\u00a0by the\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is aggravated<\/span>, however,<\/span>\u00a0by the statutory requirement that\u00a0<\/span>rides<\/span>\u00a0must be tracked both\u00a0<\/span>precisely<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and in\u00a0<\/span>real-time<\/span><\/i>. Precise geolocation tracking cuts through most privacy protections and real-time geolocation tracking is inherently at odds with privacy<\/span>. The\u00a0<\/span>Act<\/span><\/i>\u00a0thereby both insists on protecting privacy and\u00a0<\/span>while at the same time\u00a0<\/span>collecting data at such high resolution that there is little realistic hope for privacy under this scheme<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The CCLA sees no clear path to resolving this fundamental inconsistency.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CCLA\u2019s submission on the\u00a0draft\u00a0regulations for\u00a0the\u00a0Act respecting remunerated passenger transportation by automobile<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

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About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association<\/h3>\n
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The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

For the Media<\/h3>\n
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For further comments, please contact us at\u00a0media@ccla.org<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

For Live Updates<\/h3>\n
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Please keep referring to\u00a0this page<\/a>\u00a0and to our social media platforms. We are on\u00a0Instagram<\/u><\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/u><\/a>, Twitter<\/u><\/a> and Blue Sky<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n