Who decides? Consent, meaningful choices, and accountability: Professor Lisa Austin

Faculty of Law Professor and Schwartz Reisman Research Lead Lisa Austin, comments on aspects of Canada’s newly-proposed privacy law reform. Her piece is the first in a series of posts published by the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society on the features, implications, and controversies surrounding privacy law reforms around the world in an increasingly digital and data-rich context. Austin writes: 

Much of what Bill C-11—the federal government’s proposed new private sector privacy legislation—accomplishes is to replicate the protections of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) while adding stronger enforcement powers. However, there are also some notable changes to the substance of PIPEDA, including two new types of exceptions to the “knowledge and consent” requirements (an individual’s “knowledge and consent” are required for the collection, use, or disclosure of their personal information.) One of these exceptions is s.18, the new “business activities” section, and another is a set of exceptions for the use or disclosure of personal information that has been “de-identified” (ss.20, 21, 22, and 39). 

VIEW THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA’S PROPOSED BILL C-11, FIRST READING, NOVEMBER 17, 2020.

In this post I will comment on the “business activities” exception and in a subsequent post I will comment on the “de-identified” personal information exceptions. 

Read the full post at SRI Toronto's website