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Privacy Commissioner Issues PIPEDA Review Discussion Paper

The much-anticipated PIPEDA review is scheduled for later this year and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has kicked things off with a discussion/consultation paper.  The Commissioner’s comments on the effectiveness of the law will be very important and this paper is presumably an attempt to gauge public opinion on several key matters.  The document notes that:

"PIPEDA appears to be working reasonably well, although gaps have appeared that were not anticipated when it was drafted several years ago. Some of PIPEDA‘s provisions may need to be reconsidered in light of experience, including the experience we have observed with substantially similar provincial privacy legislation. PIPEDA‘s provisions may not be as effective at protecting privacy as its drafters had hoped."

The document proceeds to raise several issues for discussion including the prospect of order-making power, adjustments to the consent-based model (particularly in the workplace), the role of intermediaries such as ISPs, the benefits of a security breach disclosure provision, and the transborder data flow issue.  All critical issues that could make PIPEDA a far more effective tool for privacy protection.  Comments on the discussion paper are due by September 7, 2006.

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