Privacy Commissioner of Canada Publishes Notice of Consultation to Review Current Consent Model

On May 11, 2016, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada announced the launch of a public consultation to review the current consent model under Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Following the announcement, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (the Office) published a discussion paper entitled Consent and privacy: A discussion paper exploring potential enhancements to consent under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, which examines the current consent model and explores a variety of possible improvements, including:

1. enhancing consent by increasing transparency in privacy policies and notices;
2. imposing responsibility for using personal data on organizations by using technology to allow privacy preferences to be managed across services;
3. providing technology-specific safeguards; and
4. implementing Privacy by Design principles throughout the development of new technologies.

The Office also explored alternatives to consent in circumstances in which obtaining consent was not practical. The Office’s suggested alternatives include:

1. de-identification or anonymization of personal information;
2. the creation of “No-Go Zones” which prohibit or limit the collection, use or disclosure of personal information in certain circumstances or in relation to certain types of data; and
3. broadening the current exceptions for obtaining consent under PIPEDA to include an exception for the processing of personal information for legitimate business interests.

The paper also includes further discussions relating to improved governance and enforcement models to enhance the accountability of organizations processing personal information.