In an op-ed for The Globe and Mail, University of Toronto Chair in Law and Technology Lisa Austin explains why Canada should not treat data like a natural resource. Austin writes the Canadian federal government’s recently announced consultation on digital and data transformation treats data as the new oil, but the author argues it is better served to be thought of as “a new informational dimension to individual and community life.” Austin states data can be used to make “our social world legible in new ways. This new legibility opens up important and novel opportunities to organize ourselves and our activities for economic and social benefit,” while also adding privacy is a human right and not just a consumer interest.
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