Privacy Commissioner Of Canada Provides Organizations With Framework For COVID-19

As organizations across Canada continue to look for new ways to respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic, regulators are urging them not to overlook their privacy obligations.

In particular, regulators are reminding organizations that privacy law protections are not a barrier to the appropriate collection, use and disclosure of personal information during the pandemic, provided that appropriate steps are taken. This blog provides a short overview of some recent guidance from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (the "OPC") for organizations to comply with their privacy law obligations in the context of COVID-19.

The OPC recently published A Framework for the Government of Canada to Assess Privacy-Impactful Initiatives in Response to COVID-19. This framework reviews the key privacy principles that the Federal Government and public health authorities should consider when proposing measures to combat COVID-19 — particularly when those measures will impact