How RecordPoint can help
RecordPoint is designed with key features designed to assist with PIPEDA compliance. These features include:
PIPEDA compliance with RecordPoint
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is the federal directive for data privacy in Canada.It became law on April 13, 2000, and governs how private sector organizations who do business in Canada protect consumer data. Companies who collect and process consumer data in Canada must comply with this legislation, and with RecordPoint, they can be confident that their data governance and data privacy standards are in compliance.
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Easily respond to every access request
PIPEDA gives individuals the right to know what personal information an organization holds about them and how it's being used — and to challenge its accuracy. RecordPoint lets you search across all your connected data by content, not just metadata, so you can quickly surface what's held about any individual and build an accurate, complete response.
Dispose of the data you no longer need
PIPEDA requires organizations to destroy personal information once it's no longer needed — not just limit its use. RecordPoint enforces retention schedules automatically, triggers a review when the retention period ends, and routes every disposal through an approval workflow with certificate-backed records — so every disposal is documented, approved, and defensible.
Every decision logged, every request protected
PIPEDA requires that personal information subject to an access request is retained even if it was due for destruction — and that organizations have a documented process for handling compliance challenges. RecordPoint places a legal hold the moment a request is received and logs every action across both the content source and the platform itself, giving you a complete chain of custody when your process is challenged.
What is PIPEDA?
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is the federal law in Canada that governs how private sector organizations ensure the privacy of consumer data. It was passed on April 13, 2000, as part of an effort to build consumer trust in e-commerce. The law has since gone through several reviews, with the first one occurring in 2007.
PIPEDA applies to any private-sector organization that collects, uses, or discloses personal information in the course of a commercial activity throughout Canada. The law defines a commercial activity as any transaction, act, conduct, or regular course of conduct that is commercial in nature. This can mean selling goods and services, bartering, and/or the leasing of donor, membership, or other fundraising lists.
As specified in PIPEDA, personal information refers to data about an identifiable individual, not including the name, title or business address, or telephone number of an employee of an organization.
PIPEDA applies to any private-sector organization that collects, uses, or discloses personal information in the course of a commercial activity throughout Canada. The law defines a commercial activity as any transaction, act, conduct, or regular course of conduct that is commercial in nature. This can mean selling goods and services, bartering, and/or the leasing of donor, membership, or other fundraising lists.
As specified in PIPEDA, personal information refers to data about an identifiable individual, not including the name, title or business address, or telephone number of an employee of an organization.
PIPEDA empowers individuals with the right to:
- Know why a company or organization collects, uses, or discloses their personal information
- Expect the reasonable and appropriate collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information as well as not to use the information for any purpose other than that to which they have consented
- Know who is responsible for protecting their personal information
- Expect organizations to protect their personal information by taking appropriate security measures
- Expect that their personal information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date within the organization's databases
- Obtain access to their personal information and ask for corrections if necessary
- Complain about how an organization handles their personal information if they feel their privacy rights have not been respected
Know why a company or organization collects, uses, or discloses their personal information
Expect the reasonable and appropriate collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information as well as not to use the information for any purpose other than that to which they have consented
Know who is responsible for protecting their personal information
Expect organizations to protect their personal information by taking appropriate security measures
Expect that their personal information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date within the organization's databases
Obtain access to their personal information and ask for corrections if necessary
Complain about how an organization handles their personal information if they feel their privacy rights have not been respected
Right to complain to the Information Commissioner
Right to not be subjected to automated decision-making
PIPEDA requires a few things from organizations, including:
- Receiving consent from consumers before collecting data
- Supplying an individual with a product or service even if they refuse to have their data collected, unless the data collection is necessary for the transaction
- Collecting information by fair and lawful means
- Having personal information policies that are clear, understandable, and readily available
How can businesses comply with PIPEDA?
Businesses required to comply with PIPEDA need to follow the 10 fair information principles.
1
Accountability
First, identify all the non-public information (NPI) you have and where it lives – cataloging and storing your data in in a secure and scalable, cloud-based data inventory makes it easier to monitor. Next, evaluate your security measures – banks must have a system in place for protecting NPI to ensure GLBA compliance.
2
Identifying purposes
Organizations need to identify the purpose for which personal information is being collected. This purpose must then be documented prior to determining what personal data actually needs to be collected, and must be communicated to customers at, or before the time of collection.
3
Consent
Organizations can only collect, use, or disclose personal information with the knowledge and consent of the individual. This is inline with GDPR rules in the European Union. Law enforcement investigations are one of the few exceptions, and in that case personal data can only be disclosed to another organization.
4
Limiting collection
Organizations should limit the personal information they collect only to what is needed for the purposes identified by the organization. Minimizing the amount of data required can limit the possible exposure in case of a data breach. This collection must be done through fair and lawful means.
5
Limits on use, disclosure, and retention
Unless otherwise consented to, or where required by law, personal information can only be used or disclosed for the purposes for which it was collected. Organizations can only keep personal information as long as required to serve the defined purpose.
6
Accuracy
Organizations need to keep the personal information they have as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as possible in order to properly satisfy the purposes for which it is to be used. Inaccurate information could place organizations in breach of PIPEDA.
7
Safeguards
Organizations must use security tools to protect the personal data in their possession. These protective tools need to be appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. Think role-based access controls and data governance that help with determining policies around accessing consumer data.
8
Openness
Creating personal information management policies isn't enough – these policies and practices need to be transparent and readily available for anyone to review. These policies should also be easy to understand for the average person without complicated legalese.
9
Accountability
The data controller is responsible for being able to demonstrate GDPR compliance with all of these principles.
10
Challenging compliance
An individual shall be able to challenge an organization’s compliance with the above principles. Their challenge should be addressed to the person accountable for the organization’s compliance with PIPEDA, usually their Chief Privacy Officer.
Penalties for noncompliance
Up to
$100,000 / violation
Penalties for noncompliance with PIPEDA come in three forms:
- Financial penalties – Business and organizations can be fined up to $100,000 CAD for each violation of PIPEDA. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) is aggressive in investigating complaints about violations, with Home Depot of Canada recently being found to violate PIPEDA by sharing data with a service provider without explicit consent.
- Class-action lawsuits or other legal actions –The OPC is limited in terms of what penalties it can assess, but organizations in violation of PIPEDA may be referred to the Attorney General of Canada for additional legal action. As a result of this referral, organizations could be audited, forced into compliance agreements, or be forced to disclose company behavior to the public among other punishments.
- Reputation impact – OPC publicly denouncing a business for violating PIPEDA could result in a loss of consumer trust. This may result in fewer consumers doing business with that organization and result in knock-on financial impacts.
Frequently asked questions
Have more questions about PIPEDA compliance or looking for additional details? Reach out to our friendly team - we're happy to help you navigate it.
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Regulatory breakdowns, expert commentary, and real-world case studies - everything you need to decode complex PIPEDA requirements, build a defensible compliance strategy, and learn from global enforcement actions.
