Volume II

Issue : 8: April 15, 2004

• U.S. Broadband Industry May be Forced to Share Following Cable Modem Decision
• UN E-commerce Group Releases Revised Draft Convention on the Use of Data Messages in International Contracts
• Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Criminal Spam Case
• U.S. Senate Bill Introduced to Grant Federal Government Exclusive Regulatory Authority Over VoIP
• U.S. Advocacy Groups Lobby FCC to Protect VoIP from Regulations
• CRTC Releases Preliminary View on VoIP Services
• PGA Tour Wins Battle over the Internet Posting of Real-Time Golf Scores
• British Columbia and Alberta Exempt from PIPEDA
• Canadian Privacy Commissioner's E-kit for Businesses
• Eight European Nations Fail to Implement the E-Privacy Directive
• Google Mail Alleged to Violate European Privacy Laws
• Florida Court Orders RIAA to Bring Individual Suits against Alleged File Swappers
• Federal Government Called Upon to Ban Internet Pharmacies
• Internet Pharmacy Sues Health Canada

Home > Volume II > Issue 8: April 15, 2004 > Canadian Privacy Commissioner's E-kit for Businesses

Canadian Privacy Commissioner's E-kit for Businesses

Although federally regulated companies in Canada have been subject to the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) since January 1, 2001, the vast majority of Canadian companies and all other "organizations" (partnerships, charitable organizations, joint ventures, etc.) only became subject to PIPEDA on January 1, 2004 (except for those operating exclusively within British Columbia, Alberta or Quebec who have their own privacy laws). To assist these businesses to comply with PIPEDA, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has gathered together an "E-kit for Businesses" which contains an assortment of useful information and tools.

Included in the E-kit are the following:

• a copy of PIPEDA and regulations
• a "Guide for Businesses and Organizations to Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act"
• a privacy questionnaire entitled "Is Your Business Ready", which is actually an extract from the guide referenced above
• summaries of 260 "findings" made by the Privacy Commissioner under PIPEDA for the years 2001 through 2004. The Commissioner's findings fall into four categories of conclusions relating to an organization's compliance with PIPEDA being (a) not well founded, (b) well founded, (c) resolved, or (d) discontinued.
• a Privacy Presentation, consisting of 14 pages in PowerPoint format, providing an overview of PIPEDA
• a set of Questions and Answers, Glossary of Terms, a Poster, Brochures and a Newsletter to assist organizations in the Healthcare sector understand how PIPEDA affects their operations.
• a Fact Sheet on the way that PIPEDA applies to charitable and non-profit organizations
• a Fact Sheet on the application of PIPEDA to employee records for businesses that are regulated by the Federal Government (e.g. telecommunications, broadcasting, aviation, banking, inter-provincial transportation, maritime shipping and businesses in the Yukon, Nunavut and the Territories)
• another Fact Sheet for employees, regarding privacy in the workplace (limited to employees of federally regulated businesses)
• two Fact Sheets providing general overviews of PIPEDA and how the privacy laws apply across Canada within different provinces and territories
• a letter from the Federal Privacy Commissioner to the Privacy Commissioners for Alberta and British Columbia confirming how the three commissioners would work together to address complaints that cross-jurisdictional borders
• a set of Compliance Tools and Resources consisting of (a) a privacy Diagnostic Tool for self-assessment to compare an organization's information processes with privacy principles prepared by the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner (b) a Privacy Compliance Guide from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, and (c) an Online E-security and Privacy Guide from Industry Canada, addressing security and privacy in the Internet marketplace

For additional information, visit the Privacy Commissioner of Canada's website at:
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/ekit/ekit_e.asp