Data and Privacy during a Global Pandemic Conference

Friday, December 4, 2020 8:30 am - 4:00 pm EST (GMT -05:00)
Export this event to calendar
iCal

What needs to be done in order to curb the spread of Covid-19: Contact tracing, legal considerations, and statistical modeling

Organized by the Master of Public Service Policy & Data Lab and GEDI and sponsored by the Waterloo Cybersecurity & Privacy Institute, this virtual conference brings together experts from the social and physical sciences, computer science and engineering, statistics, and law to help frame policy recommendations for a variety of societal issues that have emerged with COVID-19. There are three broad themes: (1) downloads of the Federal Government exposure notification app have been extremely low, mitigating its usefulness. What can be done legally and from a behavioural lens in order to increase the use of exposure notification apps?; (2) the lack of disaggregated COVID-19 data across the country has impaired the ability of researchers to conduct relevant and important research. What do governments need to do to ensure better data availability and what are novel data sources that can be studied by researchers?; (3) the use of statistical models in predicting the incidence and burden of COVID-19.

REGISTER HERE

Conference at a glance

 
8:30 am Opening remarks and welcome by Dr. Vivek Goel,  Special Advisor to the President and Provost at the University of Toronto and a Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health
8:45 -10:05 Statistical Modeling with Q & A
  • Jeff Chan (Wilfrid Laurier University), How Social Media and Cellphone Data Can be Used to Track Mobility During Pandemics 
  • Mark Crowley (University of Waterloo), Prediction and Causality: How Can Machine Learning be Used for COVID-19?  
  • Ashleigh Tuite (University of Toronto), How Epidemiological Models (Even Wrong Ones) Can be Useful for Identifying Critical Data Gaps
10:15-11:35 Exposure Notification Apps with Q & A
  • Colleen Flood (University of Ottawa), What Powers Does the Federal Government Have to Require Exposure Notification Apps for COVID-19?  
  • Igor Grossmann (University of Waterloo), Using Behavioural Psychology to Understand How Exposure Notification Apps Can Be Successful  
  • Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher (University of Waterloo), Communicating about Health and Safety Benefits and Privacy Risks in COVID-19 Exposure Notification Tracking Apps  
11:45 -1:25  Data and Privacy Concerns with Q & A
  • Michael Wolfson (University of Ottawa), How Data Availability from Government has Impeded COVID-19 Research & the ‘Chilling’ Effects of Privacy Concerns  
  • Plinio Morita (University of Waterloo), How to Design Better COVID-19 Exposure Notification Apps  
  • Anindya Sen (University of Waterloo), A Cost Benefit Analysis Approach to Accommodating Privacy Concerns in Data Collection & How Canada Compares to Other Jurisdictions  
2:30 - 4:00 Fireside chat
  • conducted by Bessma Momani, Professor of Political Science and Senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI)
Participants
  • Dr. Howard Njoo, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Sofia Scichilone, Acting Director, Government Advisory Directorate, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Michael Hilmer, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Capacity Planning and Analytics Division of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
  • Paul Halucha, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office (PCO) of Canada
  • Kevin Magee, Chief Security and Compliance Officer, Microsoft 

 Speakers

 

Michael Wolfson
University of Ottawa
Former Assistant Chief Statistician, Analysis and Development at Statistics Canada & Adjunct Professor, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa

 

Colleen Flood
University of Ottawa
Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa and University Research Chair in Health Law and Policy. Director for the University of Ottawa Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics

 

Anindya Sen
University of Waterloo
Professor of Economics & Director, Master of Public Service, University of Waterloo. Member, Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute & Waterloo Cybersecurity & Privacy Institute.

 

Jeff Chan
Wilfrid Laurier University
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University

 

Igor Grossmann
University of Waterloo
Associate Professor of Psychology & Director, Wisdom and Culture Lab, University of Waterloo

 

Mark Crowley
University of Waterloo
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute, University of Waterloo

 

Plinio Morita
University of Waterloo
Assistant Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems J.W. Graham Information Technology Emerging Leader Chair in Applied Health Informatics Director, Ubiquitous Health Technology Lab (UbiLab), University of Waterloo

 

Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher
University of Waterloo
Associate Professor specializing in rhetorical theory and science communication and PI of the Democratization through Education in Medicine, Technology, and Science Lab (Demos Lab)

 

Scott Leatherdale
University of Waterloo
University Research Chair and Professor, School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo

 

Ashleigh Tuite
University of Toronto
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

 

Bessma Momani
University of Waterloo
Professor of Political Science and Senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI)

 

Dr. Howard Njoo
Public Health Agency of Canada
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer

 

Dr. Vivek Goel
University of Toronto
Special Advisor to the President and Provost, and a Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health

 

Paul Halucha
Privy Council Office of Canada
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet

 

Michael Hillmer
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
Assistant Deputy Minister of the Capacity Planning and Analytics Division

 

Sofia Scichilone
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Acting Director, Government Advisory Directorate

Additional Information
Event website: Data and Privacy during a Global Pandemic Conference