Ontario private sector data law timely: MPPs

An Ontario lawmaker is pushing for consent-based privacy legislation focused on governing the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by the private sector. On Wednesday, the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), or Bill 14, had its first reading in the province’s legislature. Sponsor and Liberal member of provincial parliament Harinder Takhar said it would be the province’s own privacy law for the private sector. “We are lagging behind provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec in creating provincial legislation to regulate the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the private sector,” Takhar said during second reading Thursday, according to a transcript. “This bill seeks to give Ontario jurisdiction in developing legislation and regulations to protect personal information.” While it has its own privacy law for the public sector, Ontario’s private sector is governed by the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which is currently undergoing review. B.C., Alberta and Quebec all have privacy laws for the private sector that are considered similar to PIPEDA, according to the privacy commissioner’s website. The Ontario legislation proposes a model based on consent, which will be required to collect, use or disclose personal info, with some exceptions including medical emergencies or investigations. It also includes rules on implicit consent and the withdrawal of consent, the ability to request what personal information has been collected and to correct that information, as well as allowing organizations to refuse access requests, as in investigations. Last month, the federal parliamentary ethics committee affirmed consent as a core principle of PIPEDA in a report outlining recommendations for amendments to the privacy law. But during debate, some MPPs raised concern about the legislation’s status as a private member’s bill, not a government bill, which they say hasn’t been consulted on and “is probably not going to see the light of day before the next election,” as MPP Cindy Foster put it. Otherwise, some MPPs categorized it as a timely piece of legislation. That’s because it comes in light of revelations that Facebook Inc. data from millions of users was mined and used inappropriately to influence political outcomes, including the 2016 United States presidential election. This incident — as well as breach cases involving BCE Inc., Equifax Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. — was raised during the Bill’s reading on multiple occasions Thursday, including from Takhar. The Facebook case “raises a serious ethical question regarding the manipulation of opinion through the analysis of personal data collected without consent,” Takhar said. The Bill is now before the Standing Committee on Justice Policy.

Ontario private sector data law timely: MPPs

Brief | March 23, 2018

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Ontario private sector data law timely: MPPs

Brief | March 23, 2018

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