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ARTICLE · 25 OCTOBER 2014

Enterprise Compliance With The CASL Software Provisions – Six Questions For Large Organizations

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The electronic communications provisions of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) came into force on July 1, 2014.

CanadaPrivacy
J. Sébastien Gittens
J. Sébastien Gittens
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The electronic communications provisions of Canada's Anti-Spam Law (CASL) came into force on July 1, 2014. CASL is generally known for its sweeping regulation of "commercial electronic messaging." However, in addition to the above provisions, a number of CASL provisions set to come into force on January 15, 2015, will impose new compliance burdens on businesses that create, distribute or utilize computer systems in the course of business – in other words, most of the businesses in Canada.

Broadly speaking, CASL prohibits a person from installing a computer program on a computer system of another without the prior express consent of the owner of the system, or an authorized user. CASL defines a computer program to include any data or symbols capable of causing a computer system to perform some function. CASL further requires a person who installs a program capable of certain specified functions – including functions that track or record personal information – to give

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