Federal (Canada) privacy & access decisions

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) investigated 40 complaints against the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and 19 other federal institutions regarding COVID-19 vaccination attestation requirements for federal employees. Complainants alleged unreasonable collection, lack of transparency, and inappropriate disclosure of personal information. The OPC found that the collection of vaccination status and accommodation information related directly to the institutions' operating programs and activities, such as health and safety and human resources management, and that transparency requirements under subsection 5(2) of the Privacy Act were met. However, TBS contravened subsection 11(1) of the Act by failing to update its personal information bank index within the required timeframe, though this issue was subsequently resolved. The OPC also found no systemic contraventions of disclosure provisions under section 8. While necessity and proportionality are not direct legal requirements of the Privacy Act, the OPC assessed the policy against these principles and found it to be necessary and proportional under the circumstances, despite weaknesses in TBS's documentation. The OPC recommended that TBS assess future privacy-invasive measures using a four-part test, a recommendation TBS did not commit to.

• Whether the information collected by institutions related directly to an operating program or activity of the institution as required by section 4 of the Privacy Act.
• Whether institutions properly met the transparency requirements of subsection 5(2) of the Privacy Act regarding informing individuals of the purpose of collection.
• Whether the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) complied with subsection 11(1) of the Privacy Act by publishing an index of personal information banks.
• Whether disclosures of personal information collected under the Policy were authorized under section 8 of the Privacy Act.
• Whether the collection of personal information was necessary and proportional, applying the OPC's four-part test.

A complaint was filed against Correctional Service Canada (CSC) by the spouse of an employee, alleging inappropriate collection and disclosure of personal information from their public Facebook page. The information was collected by an assistant warden to investigate the employee's use of 'other leave with pay (699)' during the COVID-19 pandemic. The OPC found that significant portions of the collected information were not directly related to an operating program or activity of CSC, thus contravening Section 4 of the Privacy Act. The OPC also noted that the exclusion for publicly available information under subsection 69(2) of the Privacy Act applies only to use and disclosure, not collection. CSC subsequently deleted the collected screenshots and committed to developing guidance for managers on collecting information in a labour relations context. The complainant also raised concerns about CSC's internal complaint process, which CSC acknowledged was mishandled.

• Whether the collection of personal information from a public Facebook page was directly related to an operating program or activity of CSC under Section 4 of the Privacy Act
• Whether the exclusion for publicly available information under subsection 69(2) of the Privacy Act applies to the collection of personal information
• Whether the subsequent disclosure of the collected information was appropriate
• Whether CSC's internal process for handling privacy complaints from the public was adequate

An individual complained that Transport Canada collected his personal information for the "Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles Program" (iZEV) without a publicly available Personal Information Bank (PIB) description, as required by the Privacy Act. Transport Canada launched the iZEV program in May 2019 but did not submit a PIB description to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) for approval until 19 months later. The OPC found that both Transport Canada and TBS contributed to the contravention, as TBS failed to approve and publish the PIB description in a timely manner. Although Transport Canada eventually published the PIB, TBS declined to implement the OPC's recommendations for service standards, citing complexity, but outlined internal process improvements. The OPC acknowledged TBS's efforts to address the backlog.

• Whether Transport Canada failed to ensure personal information collected for the iZEV program was included in a publicly available PIB description as required by section 10 of the Privacy Act
• Whether Transport Canada obtained TBS approval for a new PIB before implementing the iZEV program as required by subsection 71(4) of the Privacy Act and the TBS Directive on Privacy Impact Assessment
• Whether TBS fulfilled its responsibility under section 11 of the Privacy Act to ensure timely publication of PIB descriptions
• Whether the lack of a timely PIB approval process by TBS impacts the operability of the PIB regime under the Privacy Act

The complainant alleged that Home Depot disclosed his personal information to Meta (formerly Facebook) without his knowledge and consent. Home Depot was sending in-store customers' hashed email addresses and purchase details to Meta via an "Offline Conversions" tool when customers requested an e-receipt. This data allowed Meta to measure ad effectiveness and use the information for its own business purposes, including targeted advertising. The OPC found that Home Depot failed to obtain valid consent, as its privacy statement was not readily available or sufficiently clear, and customers would not reasonably expect such disclosure. Home Depot discontinued the use of the tool in October 2022 in response to OPC recommendations. The complaint was deemed well-founded and resolved.

• Whether Home Depot obtained valid consent for disclosing customer personal information to Meta
• Whether the disclosure of personal information to Meta constituted a processing activity not requiring additional consent
• Whether Home Depot's Privacy Statement and Meta's Privacy Policy were sufficient to obtain meaningful implied consent
• Whether express opt-in consent was required for the disclosure of customer information to Meta
• Whether the information disclosed was sensitive
• Whether the disclosure was within the reasonable expectations of the individual
• Whether the ability to withdraw consent after the fact was sufficient