Federal (Canada) privacy & access decisions

An individual complained that an equipment store required a scanned copy of his driver's license and a photograph as a condition for renting equipment. The store justified this practice by citing past losses of expensive rental equipment. The OPC informed the store that collecting driver's license information in this manner was generally inappropriate due to the excessive personal information contained on the license and its limited value in theft investigations. The OPC provided guidance on appropriate collection practices. As a result of the OPC's intervention, the store implemented a less privacy-invasive solution and trained its staff. The complainant was satisfied with the outcome.

• Whether requiring a scanned copy of a driver's license and a photograph for equipment rental constitutes appropriate collection of personal information under PIPEDA
• Whether the collection of driver's license information is justified for addressing customer theft

An individual posted her résumé on a job website, which included her address. After having the job website remove the information, she discovered her résumé was still searchable via an Internet search engine. The individual contacted the search engine's Web administrator multiple times to request removal of her personal information, but the search engine did not comply. She then filed a complaint with the OPC. The OPC intervened directly with the search engine, which subsequently removed the cached copy of the individual's information from its search results using its URL removal tool. The complainant was satisfied with the outcome, and the complaint was closed.

• Whether an Internet search engine was obligated to remove cached personal information after the original source was deleted
• Whether the search engine's refusal to remove the information constituted a contravention of PIPEDA

A landlord complained that a telecommunications firm disclosed his personal account information, including debt details, to his tenant without consent. The firm had merged the landlord's existing account with the tenant's new account because they shared the same address. This led to the firm demanding payment from the tenant for services he had not ordered and disclosing the landlord's information during collection attempts. The tenant then confronted the landlord, accusing him of debt evasion and threatening to vacate. The landlord filed a complaint with the OPC, alleging unauthorized disclosure of his personal information.

• Whether the telecommunications firm disclosed the landlord's personal information without consent
• Whether the firm was responsible for merging the accounts and the subsequent unauthorized disclosure

A doctor complained that a professional organization ignored his request for access to his personal information. The complainant believed he was the subject of a planned conference talk by a member of the organization and sought access to information related to this presentation. The OPC confirmed that the organization had not acted on the access request. However, the OPC also found that the presentation was never given, and therefore the organization held no personal information about the doctor. The complainant was satisfied with this explanation and withdrew his complaint.

• Whether the professional organization failed to respond to an access request
• Whether the professional organization held personal information about the complainant