Protecting Personal Information And Your Privacy

In Canada, there are laws that protect your privacy. The federal law that regulates personal information handled in the course of commercial activities is called the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and there is a separate law for federal public sector institutions called the Privacy Act. These laws set the rules for how organizations may collect, use or disclose your personal information. Responsibility for overseeing these rules rests with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). 

Under PIPEDA, organizations must follow 10 principles. For example, they must collect, use or disclose your personal information only with your consent, and only for reasonable purposes. They are required to protect your personal information, ensure it’s accurate, complete and up to date (as appropriate in the circumstances), and destroy it when it’s no longer needed.  It’s important to remember that some organizations, including government institutions, are not subject to PIPEDA.

There are other laws, aside from PIPEDA and the Privacy Act that deal with your privacy. For more information, check out this handy OPC tool.