The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) posted, earlier this week, the 51 submissions it received in response to its consultation on consent under the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The consultation is looking to identify improvements to the current consent model currently challenged. I have submitted my comments as part of this […] Read more
On September 27, 2016, the Canadian Securities Administrators released an updated cyber security notice to emphasize the need for financial market participants to proactively manage cyber risks and prepare for cybersecurity incidents, and to remind issuers to provide detailed and specific disclosures of material cyber risks in prospectuses and continuous disclosure filings. The notice provides important […] Read more
Today the Privacy Commissioner’s latest Annual Report was tabled, in Parliament. The 2015-16 report describes the work of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) as it relates to both the Privacy Act, which applies to the federal public sector, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the federal private sector privacy law. The Report discusses the […] Read more
The Conference Board of Canada and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia co-hosted the inaugural Canadian Privacy Summit on April 13–14, 2016, in Vancouver, British Columbia. It brought together many of Canada’s foremost privacy experts from the public and private sectors in a wide-ranging conversation about the nature of privacy […] Read more
On August 22, 2016, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released an important joint investigation report regarding the Ashley Madison data breach, which exposed the personal information of some 32 million users of the online dating website marketed to people who are married or in committed relationships. As part of its investigation, […] Read more
The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) announced yesterday the release of its Best Practices for Consumer Wearables and Wellness Apps and Devices, a detailed set of guidelines that responsible companies can follow to ensure they provide practical privacy protections for consumer-generated health and wellness data. I have been following these guidelines very closely over the last few […] Read more
The CRTC has recently released a Notice for businesses and individuals advising them on how to keep records of consent. The CRTC confirms that under section 13 of CASL, the onus is on the person who alleges they have consent to send a CEM (typically, the person who sends the CEM) to prove that they have proper consent, either implied […] Read more
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has recently published a great discussion paper entitled “Consent and privacy” exploring potential enhancements to consent under PIPEDA. The OPC also launched a Consultation and Call for Submissions requesting input on its consent paper, asking whether legislative changes are required, and requesting comments on solutions which would be helpful in […] Read more
Quebec was the first province to enact a data protection law for the private sector, an Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector in 1993. This law is substantially similar to the federal law PIPEDA. The Quebec Commission d’Accès à l’Information (CAI), the government body responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Quebec law, […] Read more
A few days ago, I published a short piece on Big Data Analytics: Is Consent Required? While I discuss different data flow scenarios and whether consent should be a requirement under each scenario, I don’t address the consent exception for research purposes. This exception which can be found under each Canadian private sector data protection law is […] Read more