Opposition MPs push to suspend public health officials’ use of cellphone location data

The federal public health agency says the location data was 'de-identified' and could not be linked to individual Canadians’ movement, but privacy advocates still concerned.

Opposition MPs pushed for the suspension of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s analysis of cellphone location data Thursday, saying they want more assurances the program safeguards Canadians’ privacy.

The agency has been using “de-identified” cellphone location data since early 2020 to measure how effective public health directives – like lockdowns and other mobility restrictions – have been at slowing COVID-19’s spread.

PHAC did not collect the data, and has been publicly releasing aggregate mobility information since December 2020. The agency says the aggregate data cannot be used to identify individual Canadians.

But opposition MPs suggested the program amounted to “tracking” Canadians without their knowledge or consent. At an emergency meeting of the House of Commons’ ethics and privacy committee, Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure moved a motion to suspend PHAC’s planned acquisition of mobility data through 2022.

“What Health Canada wants to do with this data is laudable. The end goal is a good one,” Villemure told the committee.

“However, I do have preoccupations and concerns about how would you go forward through (purchasing data from) private companies, for example.… We have to allow Canadians also to truly understand the entire situation here.”

The committee – which scheduled emergency meetings to discuss the program at the request of Conservative and BQ MPs – is scheduled to resume debate on the issue on Monday. But the committee’s motion, put forward as an attempt to safeguard Canadians’ privacy, would do little to stop private sector companies from collecting and monetizing location data with or without PHAC’s interest.

The public health agency confirmed that it has been using mobility data throughout the pandemic to evaluate how certain measures – such as lockdowns and other restrictions on travel – have affected the spread of COVID-19.