Canadian Privacy Legislation Update

As noted in an earlier issue of E-TIPSâ„¢ (Vol 2 No 8, September 25, 2003), the federal government's personal privacy legislation, the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), is set to come into full force on January 1, 2004, and will apply in provinces without existing "substantially similar" personal privacy legislation.   At present, only Quebec's Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector has met the "substantially similar" standard. British Columbia and Alberta are also hoping to meet the substantially similar standard.   On October 23, 2003, British Columbia's Personal Protection Information Act received Royal Assent.   And on December 1, 2003, the Legislative Assembly of Alberta passed Bill 44, the Personal Information Protection Act. At this point, it is unclear whether the British Columbia and the Alberta personal privacy legislation meets the substantially similar standard.   When the legislation was first drafted, George Radwanski, the then current Privacy Commissioner of Canada, stated that, in his opinion, neither British Columbia's nor Alberta's proposed legislation qualified as "substantially similar".   Since then, both pieces of draft legislation have undergone a series of amendments.   Mr. Radwanski is no longer the Commissioner and, in his annual report to Parliament tabled in September 2003, the Interim Privacy Commissioner calls the BC and Alberta legislation "another promising sign for privacy protection in Canada". If a province enacts personal privacy legislation that is found not to be substantially similar to PIPEDA, the provincial law will remain in effect, but will operate concurrently with PIPEDA.   In the event of a conflict between the two, where PIPEDA sets higher standards for privacy protection than the provincial legislation, the federal provisions will take precedence and all organizations carrying out commercial activities within the province will have to comply. For an extended discussion of PIPEDA and its impact on your organization, see the article by Amy-Lynne Williams entitled, "Privacy Matters - Why You Need To Pay Attention Now". To view the status of British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act, see: http://www.mser.gov.bc.ca/foi_pop/Privacy/default.htm. To view the status of Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act, see: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/pro/bills/ba-status.asp?SelectBill=044. To read the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's June 2003 report concerning substantially similar provincial legislation, see: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/legislation/leg-rp_030611_e.asp. Summary by: Colin Adams For more information on any aspect of privacy legislation, contact Amy-Lynne Williams (awilliams@dww.com) or Michael Erdle (merdle@dww.com).