Federal Privacy Commissioner Proposes Changes To PIPEDA To Address Challenges Of Big Data

On May 23, 2013, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (the "Privacy Commissioner") has released a position paper ("Position Paper") calling for substantial changes to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act("PIPEDA").

The Privacy Commissioner argues that PIPEDA is currently insufficient to meet the challenges posed by the advent of technology that allows organizations to collect, use, and disclose an unprecedented amount of data which include personal information ("Big Data"). Big Data poses challenges both with respect to the security of Canadians' data, and the manner in which entities use that data (especially businesses looking to use that data to increase their earnings).