PIPEDA

PIPEDA stands for Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. It is a Canadian federal privacy law that governs how private sector organisations collect, use and disclose personal information during commercial activities.

The main purpose of PIPEDA is to protect the privacy rights of individuals by setting out rules and requirements for how businesses handle personal information. For businesses, PIPEDA means they must comply with the principles of fair information practices, which include:

• Obtaining consent from individuals for the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information
• Limiting the collection of personal information to what is necessary for a specific purpose
• Ensuring that personal information is accurate, complete, and up to date.

Businesses must also protect personal information with appropriate safeguards, including physical, technical and administrative measures, and must ensure that personal information is not disclosed without consent, except in limited circumstances allowed by law.

For businesses, complying with PIPEDA means ensuring they have policies and procedures in place to protect personal information, including training employees on privacy best practices, and responding to individual requests for access or corrections of personal information.

Failure to comply with PIPEDA can result in significant fines and legal liability.