Digital Privacy Act Brings Hurrahs, Headaches To Insurers

On June 18, 2015, the Digital Privacy Act received Royal Assent and is now law in Canada. The Act amends PIPEDA in a number of ways, but there are three major changes that insurers need to know about:

1. Organizations must make sure they are using a valid consent for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information. What constitutes a "valid consent" might not be as obvious as it might have been before the amendments.
2. Organizations can now disclose personal information without the knowledge or consent of an individual for the purposes of preventing, detecting or suppressing fraud; and
3. Organizations can now, for certain purposes, collect, use and disclose, without the knowledge or consent of an individual, personal information contained in witness statements related to insurance claims.