The debate over big data, privacy and its implications for democracy came to Ottawa last week as the International Grand Committee brought together the world’s biggest technology companies, politicians from around the world, and leading thinkers. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics joins the podcast this week to reflect on the three days of hearings, the prospect for global reforms, and what comes next for the committee.

The podcast can be downloaded here and is embedded below. The transcript is posted at the bottom of this post or can be accessed here. Subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcast, Google Play, Spotify or the RSS feed. Updates on the podcast on Twitter at @Lawbytespod.

Episode Notes:

International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy

Credits:

CBC, Politicians Grill Facebook, Google, Twitter over Privacy, Disinformation

CBC, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Ignores Subpoena to Appear at Privacy Hearing

Transcript:

LawBytes Podcast – Episode 14 | Convert audio-to-text with Sonix

Michael Geist:

This is Law Bytes, a podcast with Michael Geist.

CBC News:

The world’s largest tech firms were on the defensive today in Ottawa. Canada hosted a committee of politicians from nearly a dozen countries which got the chance to grill representatives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter about how they manage data, how they handle the spread of misinformation, and whether they’re a potential threat to democracy. The committee also heard from observers of the industry who are worried about what they’re seeing.

Michael Geist:

The debate over big data, privacy, and its implications for democracy came to Ottawa last week as the so-called international grand committee brought together the world’s biggest tech companies, politicians from around the world and leading thinkers for three da