Cover of June 2015 issue of LexpertHandout
Canada's proposed Digital Privacy Act, aimed at helping Canadians protect their personal information online, exposes everyone from a tiny convenience store to a multinational corporation to onerous requirements they may not be able to meet, some privacy lawyers are warning.
One provision of Bill S-4 that's sounding alarms, for example, is the mandatory reporting of all data security breaches to the Privacy Commissioner, says David Fraser at McInnes Cooper.
"If my firm had a clean-desk policy … and I violated that policy, even though I have a lock on my door and there's another set of locks before you can even get near my office … I'd have to fill out a report. If you don't provide all that information to the Privacy Commissioner, that's an offence. You can be fined and actually go to jail."
Lexpert contributor Sandra Rubin reports on the proposed Digital Privacy Act at www.lexpert.ca/globe
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