Bill S-4 (Historical)

Digital Privacy Act

An Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act

This bill is from the 41st Parliament, 2nd session, which ended in August 2015.

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.

This enactment amends the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act to, among other things,
(a) specify the elements of valid consent for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information;
(b) permit the disclosure of personal information without the knowledge or consent of an individual for the purposes of
(i) identifying an injured, ill or deceased individual and communicating with their next of kin,
(ii) preventing, detecting or suppressing fraud, or
(iii) protecting victims of financial abuse;
(c) permit organizations, for certain purposes, to collect, use and disclose, without the knowledge or consent of an individual, personal information
(i) contained in witness statements related to insurance claims, or
(ii) produced by the individual in the course of their employment, business or profession;
(d) permit organizations, for certain purposes, to use and disclose, without the knowledge or consent of an individual, personal information related to prospective or completed business transactions;
(e) permit federal works, undertakings and businesses to collect, use and disclose personal information, without the knowledge or consent of an individual, to establish, manage or terminate their employment relationships with the individual;
(f) require organizations to notify certain individuals and organizations of certain breaches of security safeguards that create a real risk of significant harm and to report them to the Privacy Commissioner;
(g) require organizations to keep and maintain a record of every breach of security safeguards involving personal information under their control;
(h) create offences in relation to the contravention of certain obligations respecting breaches of security safeguards;
(i) extend the period within which a complainant may apply to the Federal Court for a hearing on matters related to their complaint;
(j) provide that the Privacy Commissioner may, in certain circumstances, enter into a compliance agreement with an organization to ensure compliance with Part 1 of the Act; and
(k) modify the information that the Privacy Commissioner may make public if he or she considers that it is in the public interest to do so.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other S-4s:

S-4 (2022) Law An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Identification of Criminals Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (COVID-19 response and other measures)
S-4 (2021) An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts
S-4 (2016) Law Tax Convention and Arrangement Implementation Act, 2016
S-4 (2011) Law Safer Railways Act

Votes

June 18, 2015 Passed That the Bill be now read a third time and do pass.
June 18, 2015 Failed That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following: “this House decline to give third reading to Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, because it: ( a) threatens the privacy protections of Canadians by allowing for the voluntary disclosure of their personal information among organizations without the knowledge or consent of the individuals affected; ( b) fails to eliminate loopholes in privacy law that allow the backdoor sharing of personal information between Internet service providers and government agencies; ( c) fails to put in place a supervision mechanism to ensure that voluntary disclosures are made only in extreme circumstances; ( d) does not give the Privacy Commissioner of Canada adequate order-making powers to enforce compliance with privacy law; and ( e) proposes a mandatory data-breach reporting mechanism that will likely result in under-reporting of breaches.”.
June 2, 2015 Passed That Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, as amended, be concurred in at report stage and read a second time.
June 2, 2015 Failed
June 2, 2015 Failed
May 28, 2015 Passed That, in relation to Bill S-4, An Act to amend the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to consideration at the report stage and second reading stage of the Bill and one sitting day shall be allotted to consideration at the third reading stage of the Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at the report stage and second reading stage of the said Bill and on the day allotted to consideration at the third reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the stage of the Bill then under consideration shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on Feb. 5, 2015

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on Feb. 17, 2015

  • Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Patricia Kosseim, Senior General Counsel and Director General, Legal Services, Policy and Research, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Scott Smith, Director, Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
  • David Elder, Special Digital Privacy Counsel, Canadian Marketing Association
  • Wally Hill, Senior Vice President, Government and Consumer Affairs, Canadian Marketing Association

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on Feb. 19, 2015

  • Jean Nelson, Honourary Executive Member, National Privacy and Access Law Section, Canadian Bar Association
  • Suzanne Morin, Executive Member, National Privacy and Access Law Section, Canadian Bar Association
  • Tamir Israel, Staff Lawyer, Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic
  • John Lawford, Executive Director and General Counsel, Public Interest Advocacy Centre

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on March 10, 2015

  • Philippa Lawson, Barrister and Solicitor, As an Individual
  • Vincent Gogolek, Executive Director, BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association
  • Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair, Internet and E-commerce Law, University of Ottawa, As an Individual

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on March 12, 2015

  • Micheal Vonn, Policy Director, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
  • Linda Routledge, Director, Consumer Affairs, Canadian Bankers Association
  • Meghan Sali, Campaigns Coordinator, OpenMedia.ca
  • Karl Littler, Vice-President, Public Affairs, Retail Council of Canada
  • Jason McLinton, Senior Director, Federal Government Relations, Retail Council of Canada
  • William Crate, Director, Security and Intelligence, Canadian Bankers Association

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on March 24, 2015

  • Catherine Romanko, Public Guardian and Trustee, Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia
  • Douglas Brown, Public Guardian and Trustee, Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba
  • Janet Cooper, Vice-President, Professional Affairs, Canadian Pharmacists Association
  • Avner Levin, Associate Professor and Director, Privacy and Cyber Crime Institute, Ryerson University, As an Individual

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on March 26, 2015

  • Éloïse Gratton, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
  • Frank Zinatelli, Vice-President and General Counsel, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.
  • Anny Duval, Counsel, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Inc.
  • Marc-André Pigeon, Director, Financial Sector Policy, Credit Union Central of Canada
  • Randy Bundus, Senior Vice President, Legal and General Counsel, Insurance Bureau of Canada
  • Richard Dubin, Vice-President, Investigative Services, Insurance Bureau of Canada
  • Rob Martin, Senior Policy Advisor, Credit Union Central of Canada

Industry, Science and Technology Committee, on April 21, 2015

  • John Clare, Director, Privacy and Data Protection Policy Directorate, Department of Industry
  • Christopher Padfield, Director General, Digital Policy Branch, Department of Industry
  • Lawrence Hanson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Innovation, Department of Industry