The Canadian Privacy Commissioner has issued her first decision involving spam. Although not yet publicly available, Professor Geist was the complainant and has posted the well-founded decision. The decision includes a determination that business email addresses constitute personal information and are not covered by the business information exception. It also concludes that the use of email addresses for secondary purposes (such as marketing) found on publicly available directories do not qualify under the publicly available exception found in the law. Finally, the decision confirmed the requirement to respect an opt-out request. UPDATE: There is coverage on the case today from the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen.
Privacy Commissioner Issues First PIPEDA Spam Decision
December 6, 2004
Share this post

Law Bytes
Episode 238: David Fraser on Why Bill C-2's Lawful Access Powers May Put Canadians' Digital Security At Risk
byMichael Geist

June 30, 2025
Michael Geist
June 23, 2025
Michael Geist
Search Results placeholder
Recent Posts
Canada’s DST Debacle a Case Study of Digital Strategy Trouble
Canadian Government Caves on Digital Services Tax After Years of Dismissing the Risks of Trade Retaliation
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 238: David Fraser on Why Bill C-2’s Lawful Access Powers May Put Canadians’ Digital Security At Risk
Ignoring the Warning Signs: Why Did the Canadian Government Dismiss the Trade Risks of a Digital Services Tax?
Why Bill C-2 Faces a Likely Constitutional Challenge By Placing Solicitor-Client Privilege at Risk