A recent public opinion survey prepared for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada by Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc (Phoenix) found that many Canadian businesses see privacy as important, but do not necessarily satisfy their privacy obligations under the Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act.

Phoenix surveyed 1,016 Canadian businesses to assess the extent to which business were familiar with privacy issues and compliant with their obligations under federal legislation.  Among the findings were that business were increasingly concerned about suffering a potential data breach (up to 41% from 31% in 2013), and that businesses are increasingly using technological means to protect personal information, including passwords, firewalls and data encryption.

The results also showed that less than half of the businesses had privacy policies in place to inform data subjects of how their personal information is collected and used, or policies that described the steps the business would take in the event of a data breach. 

As the recent amendments to the Digital Privacy Act provide for mandatory reporting of certain data breaches (previously reported in the E-TIPS® newsletter here), it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to be aware of their privacy obligations under Canadian law in order to avoid potentially large financial penalties. 

E-TIPS® ISSUE

16 05 18

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is intended to provide readers with general information on legal developments in the areas of e-commerce, information technology and intellectual property. It is not intended to be a complete statement of the law, nor is it intended to provide legal advice. No person should act or rely upon the information contained in this newsletter without seeking legal advice.

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