{"id":6884,"date":"2024-12-10T23:53:49","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T23:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2024\/12\/10\/tiktok-canadas-closure-will-make-privacy-probes-difficult-watchdog-national\/"},"modified":"2024-12-10T23:53:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T23:53:49","slug":"tiktok-canadas-closure-will-make-privacy-probes-difficult-watchdog-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2024\/12\/10\/tiktok-canadas-closure-will-make-privacy-probes-difficult-watchdog-national\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok Canada\u2019s closure will make privacy probes difficult: watchdog – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The ordered closure of TikTok\u2019s<\/a> Canadian operations over national security concerns will make it more difficult to force the company to cooperate with privacy<\/a> investigations, Canada\u2019s privacy commissioner said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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Philippe Dufresne testified to MPs on the House of Commons ethics committee who are scrutinizing the federal government\u2019s order last month<\/a> that TikTok Canada<\/a> wind up its operations following a national security review.<\/p>\n

The government hasn\u2019t shared the specific national security risks that led to the windup order, but has said it won\u2019t prevent Canadians from using the app.<\/p>\n

The company filed documents in Federal Court in Vancouver last Thursday to challenge the government\u2019s order.<\/p>\n

Dufresne \u2014 whose office and provincial counterparts are currently investigating whether TikTok has violated privacy laws in regard to younger users \u2014 said privacy law allows his office to seek a Canadian court order to force a company to provide evidence and testimony during an investigation.<\/p>\n

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\u201cCertainly in terms of compelling powers, if there\u2019s a refusal to provide us with documentation, it\u2019s easier if the organization is in Canada,\u201d where that order can be enforced by Canadian authorities, he said.<\/p>\n

Dufresne said his office can ask a foreign company to cooperate in an investigation if there is a provable \u201creal and substantive connection to Canada,\u201d such as Canadian users of an app or service.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhere the issue could come up is in terms of enforcing it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf all the assets are in another country then it becomes an issue of private international law, where you seek to have another court, another country, enforce the decision of Canadian courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dufresne told the committee the government\u2019s windup order will not have an impact on his current investigation, which was launched last year alongside British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec. He said he expects a final report and recommendations to be released in the coming months.<\/p>\n

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Canada, the U.S. and other countries have raised national security concerns about TikTok<\/a>, whose corporate owner ByteDance is based in China and would be subject to Chinese laws compelling the sharing of private information held by Chinese companies if ordered by the government.<\/p>\n