Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards
As the 2025 federal election passes the midway point, it is increasingly apparent that the federal political parties are not only battling for votes, but also for data. Canadians may not see it but political parties are data machines anxious to collect and use as much data about potential supporters as possible. Sara Bannerman is the Canada Research Chair in Communications Policy and Governance at McMaster University. She has been examining the privacy concerns with Canadian political parties for years, highlighting the disconnect between the expectations of Canadians and the reality on the ground. She joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss Canadian political party privacy – or lack thereof – and explains the role that data plays in the modern political party machinery.
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30:44
Episode 230: Aengus Bridgman on the 2025 Federal Election, Social Media Platforms, and Misinformation
The 2025 federal election is now in its second week and the battle for attention and ultimately votes is taking place both online and offline. The enormous influence of online sites such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and a handful of others raises real issues about how information spreads, its reliability, and risks of misinformation and disinformation. Aengus Bridgman is the Director of the Media Ecosystem Observatory and an Assistant Professor (Research) at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. A contributor to studies on information issues in multiple federal and provincial elections, he is one of Canada’s leading experts on misinformation, digital activism, and the politics of digital media. He joins the Law Bytes podcast to talk about the state of the major platforms in Canada in 2025, how our information ecosystem is vulnerable to misinformation, and what we should be doing about it.
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38:30
Episode 229: My Digital Access Day Keynote - Assessing the Canadian Digital Policy Record
With a federal election just called and the campaign now underway, the focus will turn - at least in very small part - to party policies. It is certainly possible that digital issues such as AI regulation, online harms, and the fate of Internet laws will merit a mention. I’m hoping to cover those issues in the weeks ahead, but this week, I offer one last look back. Last month, I delivered the keynote opening address at Digital Access Day, an annual forum on digital policy run by the Canadian Internet Society. I recorded the talk, which focused on the end of some bills and the potential start of something new. While things have changing rapidly over the past month, I think it still provides a useful review and it is included in its entirety in this week’s Law Bytes podcast.
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28:26
Episode 228: Kumanan Wilson on Why Canadian Health Data Requires Stronger Privacy Protection in the Trump Era
The craziness of the Trump administration relationship with Canada was on full display this past week as seemingly every day involved some form of policy change on tariffs – first on, then slightly delayed for some goods, then slightly delayed for more goods and by week’s end threats of new tariffs. Given the uncertainty, I recently co-wrote an op-ed in the Globe and Mail together with Dr. Kumanan Wilson that sought to put the spotlight on another issue that could come to the fore if the economic battle moves beyond tariffs to other issues. In this case – privacy, data localization and health data.
Dr. Wilson is a specialist in General Internal Medicine at The Ottawa Hospital, Chief Executive Officer/Chief Scientific Officer, Bruyère Research Institute, a Professor and Faculty of Medicine Clinical Research Chair in Digital Health Innovation at the University of Ottawa and member of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics. He joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss why we should be paying attention to health privacy, AI and the location of our data.
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26:39
Episode 227: Tara Henley on How to Save the CBC
Debates over the role and future of the CBC are seemingly about as old as the CBC itself. Those debates have become increasingly fractious in recent years as some see the public broadcaster as essential to Canadian culture and to address concerns about misinformation, while other insist it is hopelessly biased, outdated, and a threat to marketplace competition. Tara Henley is a Canadian writer, journalist and podcaster who spent years at the CBC. Several years ago, she quit the CBC in very public fashion and has since developed an important presence online through her podcasts and Substack. She’s recently wrote an important piece on how to save the CBC and she joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss.
In recent years the intersection between law, technology, and policy has exploded as digital policy has become a mainstream concern in Canada and around the world. This podcast explores digital policies in conversations with people studying the legal and policy challenges, set the rules, or are experts in the field. It provides a Canadian perspective, but since the internet is global, examining international developments and Canada’s role in shaping global digital policy is be an important part of the story.
Lawbytes is hosted by Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law and where he is a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society.
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