Privacy Commissioner of Canada Asks Federal Court to Address Facebook’s Privacy Violations

On February 6, 2020, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada filed a Notice of Application against Facebook, Inc. (Facebook) with respect to numerous violations relating to Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, SC 2000, c 5 (PIPEDA).

Facebook is alleged to have allowed an organization to use an application, “This is Your Digital Life”, to access the personal information of its users. This information was then shared with other parties, notably Cambridge Analytica, which was involved in various US political campaigns.

Though Facebook argues that there is no evidence that Canadian user data was shared with Cambridge Analytica, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has asked the Federal Court to impose various binding orders on Facebook to correct its practices. These include:

• A declaration that Facebook contravened PIPEDA.
• An order requiring Facebook to implement effective, specific and easily accessible measures to obtain, and ensure it maintains, meaningful consent from all users.
• An order requiring Facebook to specify the technical revisions, modifications and amendments to be made to its practices to achieve compliance with PIPEDA.
• An order that the parties follow up with the court, as well as an order that the court retain jurisdiction for the purposes of ongoing monitoring and enforcement.
• An order prohibiting Facebook from further collecting, using and disclosing any personal information of users in any manner that contravenes PIPEDA.
• An order requiring Facebook to publish a public notice of any action taken or proposed to be taken to correct its practices that contravene PIPEDA.

Summary By: Alessia Monastero