As anticipated, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics has released its report to the OPC suggesting several changes to the current PIPEDA legislation. IAB Canada testified in front of the Committee in May 2017 indicating how critical it was to consider and support the Canadian digital media industry’s ability to continue to grow and innovate within a reasonable Privacy framework.
The report outlines the following 19 key areas for proposed amendments:
- The Principle of Consent – enhancements
- Opt-in Consent by Default – regardless of purpose
- Algorithmic Transparency – improvements
- Revocation of Consent
- Publicly available information – posted personal information
- Legitimate business interests – clarifications
- Depersonalization of Data
- Financial Crimes – “fraud” to “financial crime” and its definitions
- Consent for minors – collection, use and disclosure of personal information
- Data portability
- Right to Erasure based on the model developed by the EU
- The right to de-indexing
- Destruction of Personal Data
- Privacy by Design – as a central principle
- The Privacy Commissioner’s enforcement powers – imposing fines for non-compliance
- The Privacy Commissioner’s broader audit powers
- Right to determine adequacy status of PIPEDA under GDPR Regulation
- The government of Canada will determine what changes need to be made to PIPEDA to maintain adequacy with the GDPR
- The government of Canada will work with all provinces and territories to ensure all jurisdictions are aware of requirements for adequacy to the GDPR
While it comes as no surprise that the GDPR is being contemplated in the report, it is important to note that IAB Canada has communicated on behalf of our members, that an opt-in default consent framework would have serious unintended consequences to our estimated $6.2 Billion industry. Of all the proposed changes, this area is one that is critical to us.
IAB Canada will be heavily involved in the subsequent discussions around these amendments and will continue to communicate our concerns and recommendations. The process for implementing changes is a lengthy one and our plan is to be present every step of the way.