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Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

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Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA; French: Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels et les documents électroniques) is a Canadian law relating to data privacy. It governs how private sector organizations collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial business. In addition, the Act contains various provisions to facilitate the use of electronic documents. PIPEDA became law on 13 April 2000 to promote consumer trust in electronic commerce. The act was also intended to reassure the European Union that the Canadian privacy law was adequate to protect the personal information of European citizens. In accordance with section 29 of PIPEDA, Part I of the Act ("Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector") must be reviewed by Parliament every five years. The first Parliamentary review occurred in 2007.

PIPEDA incorporates and makes mandatory provisions of the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, developed in 1995. However, there are a number of exceptions to the Code where information can be collected, used and disclosed without the consent of the individual. Examples include reasons of national security, international affairs, and emergencies. Under the Act, personal information can also be disclosed without knowledge or consent to investigations related to law enforcement, whether federal, provincial or foreign. There are also exceptions to the general rule that an individual shall be given access to his or her personal information. Exceptions may include information that would likely reveal personal information about a third party, information that cannot be disclosed for certain legal, security, or commercial proprietary reasons, and information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.

"Personal Information", as specified in PIPEDA, is as follows: information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title or business address, or telephone number of an employee of an organization.

The Act gives individuals the right to

The Act requires organizations to

The implementation of PIPEDA occurred in three stages. Starting in 2001, the law applied to federally regulated industries (such as airlines, banking and broadcasting). In 2002, the law was expanded to include the health sector. Finally in 2004, any organization that collects personal information in the course of commercial activity was covered by PIPEDA, except in provinces that have "substantially similar" privacy laws. As of October 2018, seven provinces have privacy laws that have been declared by the federal Governor in Council to be substantially similar to PIPEDA:

Notable provisions of PIPA:

The Personal Health Information Protection Act, known by its acronym PHIPA (typically pronounced 'pee-hip-ah'), established in 2004, outlines privacy regulations for health information custodians in Ontario, Canada. Breaches of PHIPA are directed to the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner.

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