The IPC’s Youth Advisory Council contributed to the report, which was based on a recent event
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, together with the its Youth Advisory Council, has published an insights report based on the Youth Advisory Council-led event “Growing Up Online: Youth Perspectives on Digital Rights, Risks, and Responsibilities.”
Commissioner Patricia Kosseim and Ontario lieutenant governor Edith Dumont co-hosted the May 13 event at Queen’s Park, which featured conversations with 32 Ontario-based youth on emerging privacy issues and digital rights.
“We need to empower young people to join the conversation and create spaces where they can share their own perspectives. This event, ‘Growing Up Online: Youth Perspectives on Digital Rights, Risks, and Responsibilities,’ represented a unique and valuable opportunity to do just that,” Kosseim wrote in the report’s foreword. “It was a joy to witness such a diverse group of young Ontarians come together for a rich dialogue, sharing their viewpoints and experiences not only with each other, but also with a number of educators, researchers, and policy experts who were eager to listen.”
Four members of the Youth Advisory Council conducted a panel discussion on the impact of AI technology on young people’s day-to-day lives, the use of information technology to safeguard the youth’s privacy and digital rights, and the balance between empowerment and protection. Attendees also participated in roundtables joined by expert guests.
The resulting report, which was released in line with the United Nations’ International Youth Day, presented dialogue about online privacy protection in a tech-driven world. It listed young people’s concerns involving data tracking, deceptive and persuasive design, geolocation, and artificial intelligence chatbot interactions.
Social media restriction was a topic of discussion, with a number of participants doubting the effectiveness of such limiting actions. They instead recommended industry regulation and education-based approaches driving digital skills and literacy development.
A key theme that emerged from the dialogue was meaningful choice, which participants said was vital to displaying control in a digital environment. Youth sought clear and accessible information on the use, collection, and storage of data by organizations in place of service agreements containing complicated terminology and deceptive data collection methods.
One participant referenced the right to be forgotten, which enables people to request organizations to remove personal data. This measure, another participant said, was crucial to youth with online profiles created during their infancy or early childhood years given that the information from such profiles could haunt them even though they had not actively chosen to release the information.
Participants also listed privacy by design and by default, as well as the imposition of heavier regulation, fines, and penalties, as important measures. They emphasized the value of legislation and regulation in organizations’ accountability, indicating that regulators must stop digital platforms and services from enforcing practices that significantly threaten young people’s health and wellbeing.
“Protection without empowerment becomes control; empowerment without protection becomes abandonment,” a participant said in a statement published in the report.
The IPC’s Youth Advisory Council spearheaded the development of the event’s agenda and structure in line with the IPC’s 2026-2030 strategic goal to safeguard children and youth online and boost digital literacy.
