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A G u i d e f o r B u s i n e s s e s a n d O r g a n i z a t i o n s o n t h e P e r s o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n P r o t e c t i o n A c t Why a guide? We developed this guide for businesses and other organizations to help you understand the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA or the Act) and the areas of PIPA you are most likely to run across in operating your businesses. The guide will not answer every question but will cover the major rules in the Act and show how businesses can operate to comply with those rules. In the guide, we give examples of situations that organizations may face. Some of these examples are based on cases decided by the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Where such examples are used, the citation for the decision is given in brackets. We have boxed the examples to make them easier to find. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta and Access and Privacy, Service Alberta, have published numerous further resources to help organizations and individuals understand their rights and obligations under PIPA. These resources are available on their respective websites: www.oipc.ab.ca and pipa.alberta.ca. This guide should not take the place of legal advice. If you are unsure if or how the Act applies, please contact the person in your organization appointed to make sure you follow the Act or a lawyer. Some words or phrases are in italics. They are explained either in the paragraph after they are used or in the Definitions at the end of the guide. It is important to pay attention to the definitions in the Act when you are trying to decide if or how the Act applies. Contact information for this guide: Access and Privacy Service Alberta 3rd Floor, 10155 – 102 Street Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4L4 Phone: 780-644-PIPA (7472) Toll free dial 310-0000 first E-mail: pspinfo@gov.ab.ca Website: pipa.alberta.ca Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta 2460 – 801 – 6 Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 3W2 Phone: 403-297-2728 Toll free dial 1-888-878-4044 E-mail: generalinfo@oipc.ab.ca Website: www.oipc.ab.ca Service Alberta and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
A G u i d e f o r B u s i n e s s e s a n d O r g a n i z a t i o n s o n t h e P e r s o n a l I n f o r m a t i o n P r o t e c t i o n A c t Overview Surveys conducted by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner show that Albertans place a high value on their privacy. Good privacy practices give businesses a competitive edge. So it makes good business sense for organizations to do what is needed to protect privacy. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) came into effect on January 1, 2004. PIPA aims to protect the personal information of an organization’s customers and its employees. The Act’s rules balance: ▲ an individual’s right to have his or her personal information protected, and ▲ the organization’s need to collect, use and disclose personal information for purposes that are reasonable. PIPA also gives individuals the right to ask an organization to see the personal information it has about them, to find out how it is being used and disclosed, and to ask for corrections if they believe a mistake has been made. In many areas of the Act, PIPA uses a test of what is reasonable. This means what a reasonable person would think is appropriate in the situation. PIPA applies to organizations, such as incorporated or unincorporated businesses, trade unions, partnerships, and individuals running their own businesses, and to persons acting for them, such as agents or contractors. There are special sections of the Act dealing with non-profit organizations and professional regulatory organizations. The Act does not apply to public bodies under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP Act), such as government departments, universities, public school boards, hospitals and municipalities. Nor does it apply to personal information used for personal, family or home purposes. Exclusions from the Act are discussed later in the guide. Organizations have to take care of personal information that is in their custody or under their control. This includes information in the organization’s offices, in its files or laptops when staff travel or in the hands of contractors or data processors, for example. Organizations have to follow the rules in the Act about consent and about collecting, using and disclosing personal information. The Act is written with collection, use and disclosure of personal information addressed in separate sections. However, many of the rules about collection are the same as the rules dealing with use and disclosure. Service Alberta and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
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