ARTICLE · 17 MARCH 2021

COVID-19 And Collecting Personal Information

Devry Smith Frank LLP

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The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people do business. For many businesses, government regulations currently require operators to record the name and contact information of every person who enters the establishment ...

CanadaPrivacy

Esther Abecassis

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The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people do business. For many businesses, government regulations currently require operators to record the name and contact information of every person who enters the establishment and to maintain these records for at least one month. The purpose of this is to assist with contact tracing should a COVID-19 outbreak occur at an establishment. For other businesses, collecting personal information is a by-product of increasingly doing business online.

Business owners must be aware of the implications when collecting this sort of private information and the laws that govern its collection. In particular, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act SC 2000, c5 (PIPEDA), sets the ground rules for handling personal information in the course of commercial activities. This act applies whether businesses are collecting personal information in person or online.

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