Don't Confuse Anti-Spam Requirements With Privacy Requirements

In the April 2013 issue of Canadian Lawyer, my colleague Alexandra Nicol was quoted in an article about privacy and anti-spam written by Vawn Himmelsbach. Alexandra noted that the Canadian privacy and anti-spam regimes are different. In short, complying with privacy legislation does not mean you are in compliance with anti-spam legislation. She also indicated that the reference to anti-spam may be misleading, as the legislation deals with more than just unsolicited commercial electronic messages. The legislation also captures unauthorized computer access such as installing a computer program to collect personal information to compile email lists. Moreover, Alexandra suggested that now may be a good time for companies to review their privacy policies and procedures to ensure they are up to date – they may need to be revised to deal with stricter requirements imposed by anti-spam legislation (which, as of the date of this blog entry, is still not yet in force). So, if