Canadian Privacy Decisions

An individual complained that an estimator, subcontracted by a roofing company, disclosed his personal information to another roofing company without consent. The investigation found that the second roofing company was responsible for its estimator's actions and that there was a disclosure of personal information in contravention of PIPEDA. The second roofing company implemented a recommendation to establish agreements with subcontractors regarding privacy policies and training.

• Whether the subcontractor's actions were attributable to the organization.
• Whether personal information was disclosed without consent.
• Whether the disclosure exceeded the purposes for which the information was collected.

An individual complained that her telecommunications provider disclosed her personal information without consent when a technical support representative remotely accessed her computer to fix an email issue. The representative inadvertently set up an automatic email forwarding to an acquaintance's address, causing personal emails, including a temporary password, to be sent to the wrong recipient. While the provider implemented corrective measures, the OPC noted the provider initially misrepresented steps taken to address the issue.

• Disclosure of personal information without consent
• Accuracy of representations made to the OPC
• Adequacy of internal procedures and training

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada investigated Peoples Trust after a breach compromised the sensitive personal information of 12,000 customers. The investigation found that the financial institution failed to implement adequate safeguards in its online application portal and retained customer data unnecessarily on a vulnerable, unencrypted web server. These failures contravened PIPEDA's principles regarding safeguards and data retention. Following the breach, Peoples Trust took comprehensive remedial actions, including redesigning its portal, enhancing monitoring, and improving retention practices, which resolved the issues.

• Adequacy of information security safeguards for sensitive personal data.
• Unnecessary retention of personal information beyond required purposes.
• Vulnerabilities in web application portal development and maintenance.
• Effectiveness of breach response and risk mitigation measures.