Crossing the Digital Border
September 14, 2020
I was born and raised in Chicago, so when I moved to Toronto in 2015, little things about my experience made me just feel, “Wow, this is different.” I don’t mean the familiar tropes like Canadians say “sorry” a lot, Tim Hortons is a way of life, or that hockey is THE sport there. It was actually more mundane: my debit card. It would take me years before I fully realized, but the card was my ticket to Canada’s digital highway.
I moved to Toronto to start a new job. Like any worker, I needed a bank account, so I walked across the street to Mies Van Der Rohe’s iconic Toronto Dominion (TD) Tower. I met a banker, and they asked for my name, address, social insurance number, and ID. I was prepared for a full day of agony, but it was so easy. I gave them all my information once, and I was on my way with a standard-issue green debit card.
With loads of time left, I figured I’d grab a coffee from — you guessed it — Timmys. I ordered an iced cap and took out my new card hoping to give it a whirl. I did a quick swipe, and the machine rejected it. I tried to insert it, but don’t think I had yet set the pin. The cashier looked at me and said “Why don’t you just tap.” In Canada, one can tap their debit card for a contactless purchase — an ingenious feature that has still not widely reached the US. The next few weeks with the card and bank account were full of hilarious experiences in retrospect. I learned about interact e-transfers where I could send money to anyone with any bank in Canada by using only their e-mail address. I learned how my credit card points were automatically linked to my Aeroplan, and I had enough points to fly to Vancouver roundtrip. Finally, when tax season rolled around, I learned that I could even pay my taxes, access my refunds, and apply for benefits by just signing into my TD bank account. I distinctly remember asking myself, “Why isn’t it this easy in America?”
I had crossed the digital border. Canada was using a single sign-on integration with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). That first time I went to the bank and gave them all of my information was good enough for the Canadian Government. They could be assured that if their partner, TD Bank, said I was who I was, then I could easily access services like paying my taxes. Brilliant!
I have to admit that until I received an assignment in my Digital Government Course (DPI-662A), I never considered the downsides of this easy experience. Could my data be breached? Could the CRA be using my data for nefarious means? Have I given them the key to my most sensitive information?
Yes, but I guess it’s kind of all out there anyway… isn’t it? I mean when I signed up with Medium to make this blog post, I had the option to sign-in through a partner. I took it, so I wouldn’t have to give all my information for the one-millionth time. I guess I just kind of assume someone is looking out for my well-being here.
Canada is now considering an “ask once” policy that seems to be at odds with data-sharing agreements between its government agencies. I understand why citizens might worry about their individual freedoms being violated with this more formal intragovernmental digital highway. In the United States, I can easily see how such a digital highway could be abused: an undocumented Dreamer takes a COVID-19 test and the next day find themselves targeted in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid. Such a blatant abuse of privacy would be reprehensible, but possible. This is all the more reason to give it careful consideration.
However, I also see this as an opportunity to catch up to what companies like Medium, Google, Facebook, and TD Bank have been doing for years. This exchange of data is already happening and if the government does it too, then we can enrich such digital highways with rules of the road: speed limits, safety blockers, fast and slow lanes, emergency lanes, etc. We can build the very road with values of privacy and efficiency.
