On June 18, 2015, Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act, received Royal Assent in Parliament. The Bill makes a number of changes to Canada’s private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). While the changes do not specifically target the real estate sector, Boards and Associations operating in provinces and territories where PIPEDA applies (all provinces and territories other than British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec) should be aware that Bill S-4 may impact how they handle personal information.
Of particular note are changes in the Bill that:
- Exclude business contact information from the definition of “personal information” provided the business contact information is used to for purpose of communicating or facilitating communication with the individual in relation to their employment, business or profession.
- Require organizations to maintain a record of all privacy breaches involving personal information under their control. The Federal Privacy Commissioner may request this record upon request.
- Require privacy breach notifications where a breach creates a real risk of significant harm to an individual. In such cases organizations must report the breach to the affected individual, the Federal Privacy Commissioner and other government institutions where the government institution could mitigate the harm.
- Provide the Federal Privacy Commissioner with a new power to enter into compliance agreements with an organization to ensure compliance with PIPEDA where the Commissioner believes, on reasonable grounds, that the organization has committed, is about to commit or is likely to commit a breach of PIPEDA; and
- Create new offences for failing to report or keep a record of a privacy breach. Such offences are punishable by fines of up to $100,000.
The full text of the Bill is available online.
The changes in Bill S-4 related to breach notification and record keeping, and the related offences for failing to comply, are not yet in force. CREA will communicate this information once it becomes available.
If Boards and Associations have any further questions regarding the decision they may contact Simon Parham, at sparham@crea.ca.