Leveling the Playing Field: CIPPIC Receives OPC Funding to Study Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Surveillance

CIPPIC is pleased to announce a contribution from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada for Leveling the Playing Field: The Privacy Implications of Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat Surveillance in the Canadian Gaming Market. The OPC selected the project under its 2026-2027 Contributions Program, under the theme "Achievement unlocked: protecting privacy while online gaming."

Modern multiplayer gaming relies on anti-cheat software to ensure fair play. A growing number of the most popular titles in Canada, including Valorant, Call of Duty and Apex Legends, require users to install kernel-level drivers that operate at Ring 0, the highest privilege level a personal computer offers. Unlike conventional software, these tools often run at system boot, keep running in the background after the player closes the game, and have unrestricted access to every file, keystroke and process on the machine.

The project examines three matters: the technical reality of kernel-level access as against the vague disclosures that appear in consumer consent mechanisms and deeper within vendors' privacy stacks; the coercive nature of "consent" where such invasive tools are a mandatory condition of play; and the security vulnerabilities that granting gaming vendors deep system access creates.

Melissa Dupuis-Crane will be leading the project, with support from Gareth Spanglett and CIPPIC's academic interns.

CIPPIC thanks the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada for its support of this work through the Contributions Program.