Volume V

Issue : 13: June 28, 2007

• Dutch Police Make Arrests for Suspected Internet Fraud
• eBay Facing Injunction Over "Buy it Now"
• Court Upholds Injunction Against Warrantless Email Seizures
• 2006 Commissioners Report on PIPEDA Finds Increase in Complaints
• U.S. Online Gaming Ban Leads to $3.4 Billion Compensation Claim by Antigua
• Suit Targets Anonymous Discussion Board Postings
• Swedish Appeals Court Finds Music File sharing Illegal
• FBI Internal Audit Finds Extensive Breach of Intelligence Gathering Rules
• U.S. Court of Appeals Rules that Criminalizing Bootlegging is Constitutional

Home > Volume V > Issue 13: June 28, 2007 > 2006 Commissioners Report on PIPEDA Finds Increase in Complaints

2006 Commissioners Report on PIPEDA Finds Increase in Complaints

The Canadian Office of the Privacy Commissioner has released its 2006 Annual Report, noting several trends in the number and type of complaints and inquiries brought under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA-related inquiries increased by 6.4% between 2005 and 2006, but there were still only about half as many inquiries as in 2003. The Commissioner indicated that this overall decline is likely due to increased familiarity with PIPEDA.

Despite the overall decline in inquiries, complaints increased by 5.1% between 2005 and 2006, although there was improvement in the financial, insurance, and transportation sectors. The retail and accommodation sectors were in line with the overall increase found by the Commissioner.

Only 5% of decided complaints were held to be well-founded, while 21% were deemed not to be well-founded. Fifty-one percent of the cases were closed without the need for a hearing, many as a result of organizations committing to take corrective action during the investigative stage.

Self-reported data breaches increased by 41% in 2006, possibly due to an increased awareness within the private sector of the importance of maintaining customers’ personal information.

Twenty six letters of preliminary finding, introduced in 2006, were sent to organizations in cases of a likely PIPEDA violation. About one quarter of these letters were sent to financial institutions and insurance companies, subject to PIPEDA since 2001. These letters often recommended modification of existing privacy policies and procedures, rather than addressing the absence of a policy. In contrast, nine letters were sent to companies which had only become subject to PIPEDA in 2004. In these cases, the recommendations generally involved addressing the absence of a privacy policy. Eighty-four percent of all the letters sent resulted in remedial action within the specified deadline to comply with the Commissioner’s recommendations. The remaining cases were referred to litigation, which resulted in compliance by these organizations.

The time required to deal with complaints increased from about 11 months in 2005 to 16 months in 2006. The Privacy Commission indicated that increasingly complex complaints, the introduction of letters of preliminary finding, and labour shortages were likely factors in this increase.

For a copy of the Report, visit:

http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/ar/200607/2006_pipeda_e.asp