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“Surveillance capitalism is the most-powerful market force today, which is why the six most valuable companies are all data-driven.”

The ethics committee has been studying data privacy issues following a scandal that allegedly saw the personal information of some 87 million Facebook users — including more than 620,000 Canadians — improperly accessed for political-campaigning purposes ahead of U.K.’s Brexit vote and the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The controversy has put a spotlight on the use of data by political parties, which depend heavily on access to quality information about voters when targeting their campaign pitches.

It’s also motivated policy-makers to scrutinize the collection and use of private data by other players in the industry.

On Thursday, a Google Canada executive, who appeared at the same time as Balsillie, defended the company’s record when it comes to protecting the data of its users.

Colin McKay, head of public policy and government relations, argued that Google has strengthened privacy and data-control tools for its users. McKay also insisted Google only sells advertisements based on the profiles and interests of its users.

“I would like to underline that despite what Mr. Balsillie said, we do not sell the personal information of our users,” said McKay, who noted that selling ads is necessary for Google to offer users its range of services and apps.

“I think that a data strategy does not need to be as restrictive or prescriptive as Mr. Balsillie has suggested….