COMPANIES COULD FACE HEFTY FINES UNDER NEW CANADIAN PRIVACY LAW
December 30, 2020
On November 17, 2020, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains introduced the Digital Charter Implementation Act as an “Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts.” If the bill passes in Canada, companies could face fines of up to five per cent of global revenue or $25 million – whichever is greater for the most serious offenses.
This legislation would:
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Give the federal privacy commissioner order-making powers, including the ability to force an organization to comply and to order a company to stop collecting data or using personal information;
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Provide the commissioner with the ability to recommend fines to a new Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal; and,
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Give Canadians the option of demanding that their personal online information be “destroyed.”
If the draft legislation passes, companies would have to obtain consent from customers through plain language and “not a long, jargon-filled legal document” before using their personal data.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6622); Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com or 202-659-6665), or Andy Orr (aorr@eckertsemans.com or 202-659-6625).
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