OPC's Dufresne touts new age assurance guides, teases AI enforcement updates

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne marked the start of the nation's Privacy Awareness Week by announcing new OPC guidance on age assurance technologies. He unveiled the new guide during his keynote remarks the IAPP Canada Symposium in Toronto 4 May.

The announcement came alongside broader remarks covering how Dufresne's office is grappling with advances in artificial intelligence and using international collaboration to solve pressing global privacy issues. 

The age assurance guidance is broken down into two targeted resources for platform operators and service providers and age assurance technology developers. The guides outline when age assurance should be used along with recommendations for determining specifics around design and privacy principles.

"My aim is to ensure that age assurance can support the goal of creating a safer online experience for children without creating undue impacts on privacy," Dufresne said during his speech. "Children deserve to be children, even in the digital realm, with the freedom to navigate online spaces."

The guide for platforms and providers delves into specifics around when to use age assurance, the necessity and proportionality considerations around its use, and how to ensure any practices remain privacy-protective. For assurance tech developers, the OPC outlined data minimization standards, prohibitions on secondary data use after assurance is complete and data deletion practices.

Along with the fresh guidance, the OPC also released a report containing all of the stakeholder feedback in response to the agency's public consultation for developing the Canadian Children's Privacy Code.

"My office is preparing a code that builds upon (responses to the consultation) and is working with the OPC's Youth Council to develop a child-friendly version," Dufresne said. "International examples demonstrate that codes of practice and special protections containing privacy legislation can empower children to exercise their privacy rights and protect them against potential harms as they navigate online spaces."

AI top of mind

On the enforcement front, Dufresne teased that the OPC will be releasing the final decision on the joint investigation into OpenAI's ChatGPT 6 May. The investigation was conducted in partnership with several provincial data protection authorities.

"This investigation examines OpenAI's collection, use and disclosure of personal information for the purpose of developing its AI-powered chatbot," Dufresne said. "I expect that the findings will provide more clarity on the expectations of the Canadian privacy regulators for those developing and deploying AI products."

Dufresne also offered a brief update on the OPC's inquiry into the social platform X for enabling users to create nonconsensual, explicit deepfake imagery and said that the investigation has been "expedited."

The OPC's AI enforcement work comes as Canada continues to work toward its national AI strategy. 

The Canadian government recently previewed the six pillars on which it will base the strategy. According to CBC News, the government's window into its approach reportedly included proposals for "giving access to AI training and education for all Canadians" and "modern privacy and online safety laws, strong national AI safety capabilities, and secure government systems."

At Symposium, Dufresne opined the rapid pace of AI innovation needs to be met with international collaboration among leading countries to ensure individuals' rights are upheld.  

"We must all work together across relative regulatory spheres and across countries and jurisdictions so that we can ensure that the protection of individuals' fundamental rights and privacy include strong data protection principles and are embedded into the tools and services that permeate our personal and professional lives," he said. "It's increasingly clear that prioritizing privacy is essential to enabling innovation."

Collaboration on AI matters has been particularly important in Dufresne's view. The landscape for the intersection of AI and privacy matters has only grown since he began a two-year term as chair of the Global Privacy Assembly September 2025.

The joint statement from 61 GPA participating countries calling on companies to design AI systems with privacy in mind shows is one example of the united front. 

"The statement called on organizations to engage proactively with regulators and ensure that technological advancement does not come at the expense of privacy, dignity, safety and other fundamental rights, particularly from the most vulnerable in our global society," Dufresne said. "The interconnected nature of all of our work at this important juncture of human and technological innovation is both a challenge and an opportunity for us to make a difference."