Tag Archives: economy

Letter to the Hill Times Editor

May 7, 2021

Re: A little-known Trans-Canada digital identity regime in the works, in whose interest? by Ken Rubin, The Hill Times, May 3, 2021.

Dear Editor, 

In his column, “A little-known Trans-Canada digital identity regime in the works, in whose interest?”, Ken Rubin inaccurately writes that “On the legislative front, business-backed groups like the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada are calling for revamping Canada’s outdated public-sector Privacy Act to allow for a more permissive legal regime that clears the way for digital IDs and one-stop digitized government services. … Canadian governments need to hit ‘pause’ and rethink their digital identity scheme and digital legislation which are pushing sufficient and secure privacy protection largely aside.”

The Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) was created following the federal government’s Task Force for the Payments System Review to bring together public and private sector partners in developing a safe and secure digital ID ecosystem that will enable Canada’s full and beneficial participation in the global digital economy.

The DIACC has more than 100 members spanning several sectors including public policy leaders and chief information officers from the federal and provincial governments, networks for payments and for identity verification, technology service providers, strategy and integration experts and financial institutions.

The DIACC fully shares the author’s concern for Canadian’s privacy. This concern is why, for 10 years, the DIACC has built up this important sector as the trusted voice for driving the development of a pan-Canadian trust framework, standards, and initiatives that support the establishment of a fully digital, and privacy-respecting country that Canadians want. DIACC prioritizes a federated approach to work in alignment with Canada’s federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigienous governments. This approach does not support linking of identities, rather, it leverages and extends Privacy by Design principles to enable Canadians to choose which identity credentials they wish to use respecting diversity and promoting inclusion. 

According to recent research, the majority of Canadians believe it is important for federal and provincial governments to move quickly on enabling digital ID in a safe and secure manner. It also shows that collaboration between governments and the private sector continues to be considered the best approach to create a pan-Canadian digital ID framework.

In today’s digital economy, and as the pandemic has made clear, Canadians should be empowered to give informed consent for its use across multiple platforms and in economic areas where proving identity is crucial for secure transactions.

Establishing digital ID that works for Canadians is not about creating one identity to be used for surveillance or tracking. It’s about using the credentials that Canadians already have offline (eg: passports, driver’s licenses, health cards, citizenship cards, bank cards, student cards); having those credentials securely issued digitally; and being able to use them for digital transactions  —  from opening a bank account from the comfort of home, to accessing medical records, to receiving government benefits quickly and easily.

When it comes to legislation, there is no clear policy directive in C-11 that allows Canadians to understand what they can expect in terms of accessing the data the public services have about them. This is why it’s essential for the federal government to empower Canadians to be able to use the credentials associated with them in a modern digital economy, with security and privacy. If Canada is going to be a modern digital society and economy, Canadians must understand what they can expect about data that exists about them in both the public and private sectors. 

Canadian governments should not ‘hit pause’ on digital ID, they should be investing in truly unlocking digital. Investing in digital ID not only makes economic sense but also establishes digital tools to support societal trust, provides security, strengthens privacy, and mitigates fraud. This is a win for all.

Sincerely,

Joni Brennan
President, Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada

Setting up digital ID regime could provide boost to post-pandemic recovery

By Joni Brennan, DIACC and Antoine Normand, In-Sec-M
Originally published by The Hill Times

There is no clear policy directive in Bill C-11 that allows Canadians to understand what they can expect in terms of accessing the data the federal public service has regarding them.

If the global pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that the need for reliable and secure data is paramount as businesses, governments, and Canadians from Vancouver to Quebec City to Charlottetown and everywhere in between move online. 

From receiving emergency pandemic benefits to ensuring health records are correct and helping children and youth with online education, the pandemic has put a renewed spotlight on the need for governments to move with urgency to invest in digital infrastructure. In fact, it’s critical to ensuring Canadians receive the services they need and that businesses can participate fully and securely in the global digital economy.

At the core of this infrastructure is a secure digital identity, which is essential to the function of daily life during a pandemic. 

The majority of Canadians believe it is important for federal and provincial governments to move quickly on enabling digital ID in a safe and secure manner, according to a recent survey from the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada. Investing in digital ID makes economic sense, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. For SMEs, the impact of digital identity can be used to improve processes that are difficult today, resulting in a potential $4.5-billion of added value to SMEs and reinvestments in the Canadian economy.

In Canada, the DIACC and its participating banks have identified potential net savings per institution at or above $100-million per year, through operational efficiencies created by reducing manual processing costs and curbing fraud.

While retail sales fell by almost 18 per cent from February to May 2020, the Canadian e-commerce market doubled. Data from J.P. Morgan also shows that e-commerce sales are growing faster in Canada than in many other Western countries. From e-commerce to the sharing economy a robust, digital ID establishes trust, provides security, mitigates fraud and enables continued growth for the sector. This is a win for citizens/consumers and businesses.

Additionally, an estimated $482-million is lost each year on the manual setup of user accounts within federal and provincial government services because of the need to prove identity with paper credentials. Issuing digital ID credentials is essential to a modern government operating in the digital age.

These are just a few of the myriad ways in which digital ID can help contribute to our post-pandemic economic recovery. 

Contrary to several misconceptions, digital ID is not about surveillance or tracking Canadians’ online activity. It’s about using the identification Canadians already have offline (e.g.: passports, driver’s licences, health cards, citizenship cards); having those credentials securely issued digitally; and being able to use them for digital transactions—from opening a bank account from the comfort of home to accessing medical records to receiving government benefits quickly and easily.

There are technology solutions and services that already exist today to easily adopt a digital ID ecosystem. In fact, in Quebec, the government has committed to issuing a strong digital ID to residents in the province in 2021. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel—changes can be made through regulations and policy setting. 

Additionally, in order for a safe and secure digital ID ecosystem to be successful, a trust framework that instills confidence for Canadians is paramount. The DIACC spearheaded the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework, an international collaborative approach to modernizing digital service delivery that’s recognized by the World Economic Forum and others.. This made-for-Canada framework enables the development of an adaptable infrastructure that will make the Canadian digital ID ecosystem more resilient to future crises.

But there is so much more work to be done. Our digital future rests on getting the digital ID right. This means ensuring the federal government’s Digital Charter Implementation Act, Bill C-11, enacts a 360-degree rights regime and includes public-sector data subject to the legislation. There is no clear policy directive in C-11 that allows Canadians to understand what they can expect in terms of accessing the data the federal public service has regarding them. The federal government must empower Canadians to access their own data and be able to use the credentials associated with it in a modern digital economy.

In the province of Quebec, the proposed Bill 64 to protect personal data introduces new concepts of consent, disclosure obligations in case of a breach, the transfer of personal information to other jurisdictions and very strong penalties for contravening the act (up to four per cent of the worldwide sales).

Digital ID means decreased costs for governments, consumers, and businesses while improving service delivery and driving GDP growth. Not adopting digital ID in a meaningful way or not getting it right means more privacy and security breaches, loss of revenue for Canadian businesses and inefficiencies in government service delivery. There’s never been a better time to invest in digital ID. Our economic recovery depends on it.

Joni Brennan is president of the Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada. Antoine Normand is president of IN-SEC-M, a Canadian cybersecurity cluster.

The Hill Times