GME3: High-Stakes Posting, Party Foul in B.C. Suit, & Siri-ous Privacy Concerns?

In this week’s edition of the GME3, we’re looking at an interesting post from Drake announcing a significant stake in the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup, an update to a B.C. privacy suit related to Canada’s political parties, and some concerns over Apple’s announcement of ChatGPT integration into their next operating system. Read on for the full stories!

Gambling

High-Stakes Posting

Drake has revealed in an Instagram post that he has placed a USD $500,000.00 bet on the Edmonton Oilers to win this year’s Stanley Cup. The rapper took to social media last week to post about his bet, stating that “Oilers are self explanatory.” As a fellow Canadian, it seems that Drake is hoping that the Oilers can bring the Stanley Cup north of the border for the first time in over 30 years.

Drake appears to have made the bet through Stake, a popular sports betting platform where the rapper has a paid sponsorship deal and is (allegedly) paid millions of dollars for his role as a brand ambassador. This move has caused quite a stir across Canada as hockey fans begin to prepare for the playoffs, but seems like a wasted opportunity for Stake, given that the platform has virtually no presence in Canada.

While Stake is described as a “licensed international operator” it is not authorized to operate in the majority of Canadian provinces. This includes Alberta (where the Oilers are based), B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba,  and Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland), as these jurisdictions all have government-run betting sites that are the only legal way for people to access sports betting. Stake is also not currently operating in Ontario, the only Canadian jurisdiction that has an authorized, legal igaming market.

This raises some questions about how Drake places bets on the site when his primary residence is reportedly here in Toronto, Ontario, but Stake has made it clear that “relevant legislation regarding betting and streaming activities is complied with” when the star accesses the betting platform. When asked if Drake’s bet was intended to garner attention from Canadians, Stake responded by saying that hockey has appeal far beyond Canada’s borders.

Some are speculating that Stake could be seeking an Ontario license through the AGCO, but this move could have the potential to backfire on the platform. In Ontario, betting platforms are not permitted to include athletes, celebrities or other influential persons that could appeal to minors in advertisements. While Stake is not currently a licensed Ontario operator, meaning that the AGCO and iGO have no authority over its actions, previous activities in other jurisdictions will inform the application process. Whether Drake’s post is actually an ad or just a brag remains to be seen.

Media

Party Foul in B.C. Suit

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has released an open letter in response to an ongoing legal case in B.C. involving three major Canadian political parties.

In 2019 three residents of B.C. requested for federal political parties to disclose what information the parties were holding on them, as well as what was being done with that info. When they didn’t receive answers they were satisfied with, the B.C. residents complained to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia. The parties rebutted against the complaint, arguing that B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) does not apply to them, instead they are governed by the Canada Elections Act.

In light of this, B.C.’s privacy commissioner appointed David Loukidelis K.C., an external adjudicator, to investigate the matter. In 2022, Loukidelis determined that PIPA did, in fact, apply to the parties. However, they requested a judicial review from the court before they would submit to any investigation from the privacy commissioner.

That brings us to about a month ago, when Justice Gordon Weatherill affirmed Loukidelis’ initial findings, confirming that PIPA is applicable to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in B.C. by federal parties.

The parties attempted to argue that being mandated to obey privacy laws would impact their ability to engage with Canadian citizens, thereby harming the democratic process. Weatherill dismissed this argument, stating that complying with privacy legislation would, at most “have a minimal impact on the administration of the parties… [and] the petitioners have not shown that this burden is so onerous as to impair them from engaging with voters.”

Interestingly, Canadian political parties have historically been exempt from even the federal privacy law (PIPEDA). The closest we’ve come was a 2018 amendment to the Canada Elections Act that mandated privacy policies on parties. However, this mandate does not enforce any requirement for a party to disclose how it has used personal information or who it has been disclosed to, nor is there any kind of enshrined right of access to personal information being held.’

Further 2023 amendments were passed despite “explicit and unambiguous concerns” expressed by the Chief Electoral Officer and others. The Chief Electoral Officer seemed concerned that, though an improvement regarding transparency, the 2023 amendments did nothing to impose any minimum standards or oversight over the parties’ policies. Despite historical exemptions and minimal federal oversight, this ruling reinforces the importance of privacy legislation and sets a precedent for the protection of citizens’ personal data in the political sphere. 

Entertainment

Siri-ous Privacy Concerns?

Continuing our theme of privacy, Apple has unveiled significant updates coming to their devices in the near future, including ChatGPT integration into their operating system. While this has some obvious benefits (maybe Siri will actually be useful now!), some are concerned about the privacy and security implications – especially Elon Musk.

After the announcement Musk took to X to post that “if Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at [his] companies.” Expanding on this, Musk went on to say that “Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI. They’re selling you down the river.” But, is Musk right to be concerned about privacy?

Apple has, reportedly, made privacy a primary concern in their approach to implementing AI in their operating system, taking precautions like:

• Having the majority of AI operations take place on the device directly, as opposed to over the internet,

• Encrypted connection to Apple’s AI servers that take care of more involved tasks,

• Automatically deleting user data after finishing a task, and

• Releasing sections of the code powering their servers to be examined by external security experts.

Despite Apple’s robust privacy measures like on-device AI processing, encrypted communications, and data deletion, concerns about ChatGPT being a potential security risk remain, as Apple will have very little control over data shared with the company outside their own servers. Balancing privacy concerns will be crucial as more companies continue to innovate and AI technology evolves.