Canadian privacy experts are concerned the federal government's plan to develop an online passport application process could put personal information at risk and open a new angle of attack for fraudsters. - Benoît Dupont, l'Université de MontréalBut privacy and data protection experts worry that personal information may be stored on foreign servers, providing an appealing target to criminals. In a separate statement, IRCC said "the privacy of Canadians and the safety of their personal information will be an absolute priority." "The government will definitely need to collect more personal information in order to verify an applicant's identity." For the first four months of the pandemic, Service Canada was only providing critical passport services for urgent travel.

Source: CBC News February 22, 2021 09:00 UTC