Collaborative Proposal Creation

Proposal text

A federal parliamentary committee will be convened to create a comprehensive framework for NeuroPrivacy Rights, as well as a plan for regulating technologies that can breach NeuroPrivacy Rights. This committee will consider the following items:

Section 3 of The Privacy Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. P-21) shall be amended under the definition of “personal information.”

Section 3(n) shall be added which reads: “Information related to biorhythms or neurological patterns.” The Criminal Code will be updated to include a law against the collection of neurological patterns or biorhythmic data without the consent of the individual, with a special focus on espionage, blackmail or political manipulation.

The Criminal Code will be updated with reference to s. 7 and s. 8 of the Charter of Rights to Freedoms to protect citizens from unreasonable search by law enforcement using techniques to collect biorhythms or neurological patterns, especially when they have an expectation of privacy.

Type of Proposal

Public policy that the party would represent

Objective / Benefit

Advances in neurobiology, machine learning and surveillance technology allow for the large-scale collection of biorhythm information in previously unrecorded modalities. These innovations allow for the collection of entirely new types of private information that are not protected under our current privacy laws. These include everything from biorhythms to neurological activity. This information could be collected by government organizations and private individuals for surveillance, business or other purposes. Addressing these shortfalls in our privacy laws requires both the protection of individuals against actions taken by the government and the criminalization of the unlawful collection of neurological or biorhythmic data without consent.

If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?

N/A

List any supporting evidence for your proposal

"In 2017, a young European bioethicist, Marcello Ienca, was anticipating these potential dangers. He proposed a new class of legal rights: neuro rights, the freedom to decide who is allowed to monitor, read or alter your brain."

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/07/our-notion-of-privacy-will-be-useless-what-happens-if-technology-learns-to-read-our-minds

Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?

N/A

Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?

Yes

Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.

English