Careless online conduct on behalf of either a consumer or retailer, he said, might result in a breach or disclosure that could have unforeseeable effects on a person’s job prospects or insurability.

Cybersecurity and protection of sensitive consumer information is the No. 1 concern cited by Canadians regarding cannabis purchasing, according to a June report from Deloitte. One-third of cannabis consumers, the report states, would prefer to purchase pot online.

The report also notes that even in-store pot buyers “will be sharing personal information with retailers, such as allowing their ID to be scanned at point-of-sale terminals and their image captured on security cameras.” Cybersecurity will therefore be as much of a concern for brick and mortar retailers as for online operations.

The apprehensions identified in the report are reflected very clearly in the minds of current and potential Canadian cannabis consumers.

Nearly a dozen individuals with whom The Star spoke noted they were deeply anxious about being “outed” as cannabis users to their families or colleagues through data breaches or leaks. These same individuals were unsurprisingly reluctant to go on the record for that same reason. They wish to keep their cannabis consumption private, even once recreational use becomes legal.

Caryma Sa’d, an Ontario criminal defence lawyer, said she hears from people who have these concerns all the time. As with any online database of private information, she said, when data is leaked, it’s extremely hard to “unring the bell.”

“Once (data) is shared out there, it’s not easy to bring it back in,” she said. “It takes one breach and that’s all it takes.”

And with few details being released regarding what kinds of safety measures will be installed to protect consumer privacy — including where, exactly, the government servers storing customer information will be located — it’s impossible to assuage Canadians’ fears around cybersecurity and privacy protection, said Sa’d.

Michael Zmuda, an information security consultant in Edmonton, said that, in the wake of recent data breaches with trusted corporations such as Equifax, people are “very concerned” about their privacy.

Breaches don’t require a court order or an exchange of information on a server to make private information public. And breaches make stock prices drop dramatically, he added.

Given that there remains a lack of clarity on how regulations will take shape once legalization rolls around, Zmuda said, private retailers may be able to choose their point-of-sale systems.

“That could be a cloud system like a tablet, which sends information to a server somewhere. Is that server in Canada or is it in the United States?” Zmuda said, pointing to cannabis security companies already suggesting similar systems to what is used in bars and clubs: scanning identification. “That’s the same thing — will there be a data breach?”

And, Zmuda said, companies are under “no obligation” to explain how and where they transfer information, especially across borders.

“That method of holding companies accountable should be done on the government’s side,” Zmuda said, suggesting legislation needs to be developed which would require information exchanged on servers to remain within Canada.

Canadian parents also say they’re concerned about how legalization will affect their kids’ exposure to cannabis. And while underage access to online pot is on the list, for a number of parents, it isn’t the most worrisome prospect.

Michael Bramwell, a Vancouver father who works in law enforcement, said the online market offers any number of restricted or prohibited items for sale if a person looks hard enough. Cannabis, he said, is certainly no worse than the kinds of weapons a young person can find online.

Bramwell said he is more worried about whether his teenage son will know what cannabis use could mean for his development and for his future, but hopes legalization will make tough conversations about substance use easier.

“If we take out the taboo of (cannabis), it makes it less exciting,” he said.

Jo Dworschak, Bramwell’s ex-spouse and mother to his son, agreed, saying the online conduct of young people in general was the issue at hand.

“Everything online could come back to him,” she said of her son. “Anything he’s doing online is a concern for me.”

Peter, the web specialist, said if a child was to surreptitiously access a parent’s credit card for an online cannabis purchase, it would still be a safer scenario than resorting to the black market.

But there is one issue all of these individuals cited as being at the forefront of their concerns over how online activity and data breaches might intersect with cannabis legalization: the ongoing practice of United States border agents giving lifetime bans to Canadian citizens who are found to have used cannabis in the past.

One immigration lawyer told The Star in July that the number of Canadians seeking temporary exemptions for lifetime bans acquired after admitting past cannabis use to U.S. border agents has risen from one or two per year 15 years ago to one or two per week.

Both Bramwell and Dworschak said they fear their son might not realize cannabis use could carry consequences as serious and long-term as inadmissibility on travel to the U.S. And this concern takes on even greater consequence, they said, when one considers that border guards are entitled to search electronic devices for evidence of what U.S. federal law considers criminal activity.

And Sa’d, the defence lawyer, said border bans may be the most alarming issue currently facing Canadian cannabis consumers. If a Canadian retailer stores its data in servers located in the U.S., for instance, American law enforcement agencies might determine they have a right to search that data, she said. Such a search, she added, would provide a detailed list of Canadians who are eligible for a lifetime ban on entry to the U.S..

And if a child were to make a furtive cannabis purchase on a parents’ credit card, said Sa’d, that parent could be permanently banned from the U.S. for a purchase they never personally made.

Stigma within Canada itself, she said, will likely work its way out of favour once legalization is behind us, she said. Canadians who worry about being “outed” as cannabis users — and institutions which judge clients or employees for cannabis use — will likely relax as pot consumption becomes as commonplace as drinking beer or wine.

But the consequence of receiving a ban on entry to the U.S. shows no sign of changing, she said, and as far as data an online privacy are concerned, this issue should be the one Canadians are focused on addressing.

“That’s my prevailing concern,” said Sa’d. “Everything else remains to be seen.”