Liberal MP Michael Coteau is launching consultations to result in stricter laws round employer monitoring of at-home employees.
Coteau mentioned given how the pandemic has prompted extra work-from-home situations, privateness guidelines must be revamped to guard staff.
“As Canadians retreated to the security of their house, their work adopted. Within the first yr of the pandemic, as much as 60 per cent of Canadians labored from house. Together with these modifications, we noticed a drastic enhance in the usage of surveillance by employers,” he mentioned throughout a press convention on Monday.
Coteau added that demand for surveillance software program elevated by nearly 90 per cent in 2020, citing strategies like webcam and keystroke capturing to the usage of synthetic intelligence to charge office output.
“There are at present weaknesses in our present system designed to guard Canadian employees,” he mentioned, noting that the Private Info Safety and Digital Paperwork Act (PIPEDA) solely extends to worker info or information for federally-regulated organizations.
Whereas some provinces have their very own PIPEDA-style legal guidelines, many jurisdictions stay unregulated.
The Ontario MP mentioned he intends to deliver ahead a non-public member’s invoice following consultations. In line with the Home of Commons’ web site, there are greater than 100 MPs with personal members’ enterprise slotted earlier than Coteau. Few payments make it by way of the Home, so he'll seemingly require cross-party assist to see this transfer.
“I imagine within the age of huge information, authorities has the obligation to guard the digital privateness of staff and to cope with the present observe of surveillance,” he mentioned.
“Proper now in Canada, there's a patchwork of guidelines and gaps throughout the nation and we'd like a framework that can defend the privateness of staff who determine to make money working from home.”
Through the session course of, Coteau mentioned he hopes to unearth how prevalent worker surveillance happens, decide what information employers are gathering, and the way the info is being protected.
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