Ontario's privacy commissioner is worried some security features being considered for the province's new high-tech driver's licence could expose personal data of residents.
Ann Cavoukian is raising concerns because the federal government is not willing to make citizenship information available to the provinces that are creating the enhanced licences.
Ontario's card, which could double as an alternative to a passport when crossing the Canada-U.S. border, may later be embedded with immigration information.
Those records are kept in Ottawa, but the federal government wants provinces to collect their own citizenship information and create their own databases.
The process of creating a mirror database could lead to people's personal information being exposed or stolen by identity thieves, Cavoukian said.
"It would create enormous risks in terms of inaccuracy, the potential for identity theft of creating a new database with very sensitive information, not to mention a waste of efficiency in taxpayer dollars," the commissioner said at a news conference on Wednesday.
"I've urged the federal government to withdraw this requirement. I've also advised the Ontario government against doing this."
Cavoukian is also concerned about another feature being considered for Ontario's new licences. The government may implant a radio frequency transmitter in the cards to notify border officials when drivers are approaching.
The commissioner is worried others may be able to find out how to monitor a person's whereabouts by picking up the signal.
Ontario is among a number of provinces that have been pushing for high-tech driver's licences as an alternative to passports to cross into the U.S. by land or sea.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Paul Bliss and files from The Canadian Press
