The Government of Canada has big plans for privacy protection in Canada. It has proposed the Digital Charter Implementation Act, which is a Bill that would enable the government to establish a new privacy law for the private sector called the Consumer Privacy Protection Act.
The effect of this new law would be to increase protections to Canadian’s personal information by giving them more control and greater transparency when companies handle their personal information.
For example, the new law contains modernized meaningful consent rules regarding the use of personal information, transfer rights to move personal information from one organization to another, the ability to dispose of personal information and withdraw consent to its use, rules regarding de-identification of information, among other changes.
The new law would also provide significant new consequences for non-compliance, including allowing the Privacy Commissioner to force organizations to comply or to order a company to stop collecting data or use personal information. It also would grant the Privacy Commissioner the ability to impose administrative monetary penalties of up to 3% of global revenue or $10 million for non-compliant organizations and the ability to impose a maximum fine of 5% of global revenue or $25 million for certain serious contraventions of the law.
For now, you should stay tuned to the implementation of these changes and continue to treat personal information in your control carefully (of course).
December 11, 2020