Finally, after two years, the investigation is over. AggregateIQ, the Victoria political advertising and data agency, breached Canadian privacy laws.
“Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, that whole story has seismic implications around the world, including Canada and British Columbia, where over 600,000 names [of] Canadians were involved in that,” said British Columbia Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy. “To a great extent it has shaken Canadians and British Columbians’ confidence in the political campaign system, that is critically fundamental in a democratic society where trust is often in short supply.”
“With AIQ we now have a Canadian player playing a key role in the troubling ecosystem of political campaigning in the digital era,” said Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien. “This is too close for comfort.”
AggregateIQ website
But there is no fine. Why?
“We do not have the authority to levy fines,” rued McEvoy. “To be clear, that is an authority we believe regulators in Canada should have. My office should have it to act as a deterrent, to ensure that the public knows somebody is looking after their interests and make sure somebody has their back.”
On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, hear from both McEvoy and Therrien, who released their joint investigation report on Nov. 26 in Vancouver.
Plus commentaries and headlines from the Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest.
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