Digital Privacy Act Receives Royal Assent, But Breach Notification Provisions Lag Behind

After lengthy debates, Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act finally received royal assent on June 18, 2015, and is now law. The federal government introduced Bill S-4 on April 8, 2014, which marked the government's third attempt since 2010 to amend Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). But despite the passing of this bill, the mandatory breach notification provisions will not come into force until regulations setting out prescribed requirements have been enacted. The key amendments to PIPEDA are discussed below.

IN FORCE

• PIPEDA has been amended to clarify that an individual's consent is only valid if it is reasonable to expect that the individual would understand the nature, purpose and consequences of the collection, use or disclosure of the personal information to which he/she is consenting.