PIPEDA Regulations Amended to Permit Exemptions for Investigative Bodies

The Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) establishes rules that govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of commercial activity. The general rule of the statute is that when disclosing personal information, an organization must first obtain the individual's consent. Paragraphs 7(3)(d) and (h.2) of Part 1 of PIPEDA set out an exception to this rule and permit the exchange of personal information without consent for investigative purposes between or among those organizations with investigative body status. This disclosure would only be permitted in those exceptional circumstances where obtaining consent would be impossible, impractical or would frustrate the conduct of an investigation. These investigative bodies must be specified by the Regulations to the Act which were recently amended to include various professional regulatory bodies, such as provincial Law Societies, health care Colleges, the College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and the Certified General Accountants of Canada. Private sector organizations that conduct investigations into fraud and breaches of agreement, such as the Credit Union Central of Canada and the Canadian Independent Insurance Adjusters, are also listed in the Regulations. It is expected that the Regulations will benefit the public by providing a mandated standard of protection for personal information collected by organizations conducting private investigations. For the text of amended Regulations, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?X36E21448. Summary by: Clare McCurley