Legal experts say proposed Canadian privacy law may face ‘a lot of push-back’ from business – IT World Canada

Adam Kardash

Dec 2, 2020

A recent article in IT World Canada reports on an online panel discussion hosted by the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society on November 24, which tapped into the first thoughts of privacy thought leaders on the federal government’s proposed new privacy legislation. According to author Howard Solomon, most legal experts agreed that the proposed legislation is a “welcome improvement over the existing law” and that “a number of them also predict what is known as Bill C-11 (the proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act or CPPA) will face a rough time in a minority Parliament from businesses on two sections [sections 12 and 13].”

The article notes that if the CPPA passes it would replace and overhaul the existing Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), “giving more power to individuals over the personal data collected by firms that come under the federal legislation. It would also give the privacy commissioner the power to recommend multi-million dollar fines to a Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal, which has the final say.”

Adam Kardash, an Osler partner who leads the firm’s national Privacy and Data Management Practice Group, questioned in the discussion why the CPPA continues PIPEDA’s reliance on firms getting clear user consent to use their personal information. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) says consent is only one factor that can be considered. Privacy experts say that in today’s complex environment getting people to understand consent provisions isn’t easy, he argues. There should be more debate on this, Adam says.

For more information, read Howard Solomon’s full article, “Legal experts say proposed Canadian privacy law may face ‘a lot of push-back’ from business” in IT World Canada.