'Digital charter' planned

Photo: The Canadian Press

Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, speaks to media following a cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. Bains says the federal government will look to update the Privacy Act as part of an effort to build greater trust in the digital world. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains says the federal government will look to update the Privacy Act as part of an effort to build greater trust in the digital world.

Bains made the commitment at Toronto's Empire Club of Canada as part of a rollout of a ten-point digital charter aimed at protecting privacy and personal control of data.

He says that only through a foundation of trust will society be able to reach its full innovative potential.

To reach that aim, Bains says the government will review private sector privacy laws and look to ensure the Competition Bureau has proper enforcement tools.

He says the government will also review the Statistics Act and launch a new Data Governance Standardization Collaborative to better manage data governance standards in the country.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the digital charter last week, emphasizing the need to combat hate speech, misinformation and online electoral interference.