CRTC rejects request to hold contact-tracing inquiry

The CRTC has rejected a Public Interest Advocacy Centre request that it look into the involvement of Canadian telecoms in developing applications to track the spread of COVID-19. In a letter to PIAC, sent Wednesday, the CRTC’s chief of consumer, research and communications, Scott Hutton, said the regulator’s staff would “continue to closely monitor all relevant developments.” It would also request information from telecom service providers (TSPs) where appropriate, Hutton said, and keep in contact with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which has already outlined a framework and policy principles for contact tracing applications. But Hutton said that there appeared to be “no evidence that current privacy frameworks are not sufficient to address recent efforts or that initiating a public proceeding would be beneficial to Canadians at this time.” In a Part 1 application sent to the CRTC on May 4, PIAC general counsel John Lawford had requested the regulator compel all telecoms to detail any contact tracing activities and discussions they’d been involved in and ensure confidential customer information rules in the Telecommunications Act weren’t being breached. Lawford had requested an inquiry officer be appointed, or a public consultation held. In his response, Hutton assured PIAC that the regulator continued to monitor adherence to all aspects of the Telecommunications Act, including its privacy provisions, but said the issues raised in PIAC’s application “appear to extend beyond the CRTC’s purview.” “TSPs are generally not involved in the development of third-party applications, in the subsequent downloading of these applications by Canadians or in the development of the operating software of the devices that are used to access TSPs’ networks,” Hutton said in the letter. “TSPs provide the networks over which applications operate and in some cases, may have provided the device used to access the network.” The only contact tracing application currently used in Canada, Alberta’s ABTraceTogether is voluntary and relies on Bluetooth technology, rather than collecting data from TSP’s networks, Hutton said in the letter.

CRTC rejects request to hold contact-tracing inquiry

Brief | May 13, 2020

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

CRTC rejects request to hold contact-tracing inquiry

Brief | May 13, 2020

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

UPDATED: CRTC approves Rogers-Shaw broadcasting acquisition

ISED opening up 6 GHz band for WiFi

Incumbents appeal CRTC wholesale rates at Supreme Court

CRTC to have ‘roughly nine months’ to act on Broadcasting Act update

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us