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<\/p>\nA payment processing company responsible for approximately one in three payment transactions across Canada will soon be owned by an American private equity firm. <\/p>\n
The Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal announced earlier this week they would be selling jointly owned Moneris, one of Canada’s largest commerce solutions providers, to Francisco Partners for $2 billion. <\/p>\n
So far, it’s been positive for both RBC and BMO, with the companies’ shares jumping after the deal’s announcement. RBC expects to gain about $475 million from the sale after tax, and BMO $600 million. <\/p>\n
However, some industry analysts are raising concerns the move could have negative repercussions for Canada’s digital sovereignty amid the country’s ongoing trade war with the U.S. <\/p>\n
Wide-reaching implications<\/p>\n
Broadly speaking, digital sovereignty refers to the power of a country, or individual, to retain control over its own digital assets. <\/p>\n
In September, AI Minister Evan Solomon\u00a0said that Canada needs to create a sovereign digital economy that is “free from coercion.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | Solomon spoke in September about why the government is acting:<\/p>\n
‘The moment is here’ to modernize Canada’s privacy laws: AI minister<\/p>\n
Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon says the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act will help keep Canadians safe in the digital age. ‘I think it’s a common-sense approach to what Canadians and what average folks want from their digital media,’ Solomon said on Monday about the new bill. ‘They want some control over their personal information.’<\/p>\n
That same month, dozens of experts and academics penned an open letter<\/a>\u00a0urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to swiftly “defend Canada’s digital sovereignty” and protect the country from the whims of the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s a sentiment Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, shares. <\/p>\n “Canadians should be concerned because this is their information,” she said.<\/p>\n “We’re now going to have what has been a Canadian data-processing company that has access to everybody’s purchasing habits … available to other governments.”<\/p>\n Thousands of businesses in Canada use Moneris. The processor services more than 325,000 points of commerce and processes more than five billion transactions every year, according to a press release from the company. <\/p>\n Polsky said the deal means Canadians’ data could be available, not only to foreign governments, but foreign law enforcement agencies. <\/p>\n She gave an example of U.S. border agents potentially checking an individual’s transaction history before allowing them to enter the country.<\/p>\n “Will you be stopped at the border because your purchase records indicate that you bought something with THC?” she said, referring to a chemical compound found in cannabis, which remains illegal in the U.S. under federal jurisdiction. <\/p>\n “It’s possible these days, much more possible than ever before.”<\/p>\n Transaction data as leverage?<\/p>\n That the deal is happening as the countries grapple with a trade war<\/a> only heightens Polsky’s concerns. <\/p>\n “It’s easy to foresee that the rich data that comes from millions of Canadians’ purchases could easily be leveraged to inform trade negotiations,” said Polsky, who has advised corporations and governments for more than 30 years on privacy and access matters.<\/p>\n Colin Deacon, an Independent Canadian senator, is also concerned about how the U.S. government could use Canadians’ data.<\/p>\n
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