In 2012, the Ontario Court of Appeal changed the face of
privacy law in Ontario by creating a tort called
"intrusion upon seclusion". The tort, set out in the
decision of Jones v. Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32
("Jones"), was developed to address a serious
breach of privacy by the Defendant, Tsige. Tsige worked at a bank
and used her position at the bank to access Jones' banking
records because Jones was in a relationship with Tsige's
ex-husband. In order to remedy these serious and repeated breaches
of Jones' privacy, the Court awarded Jones $10,000 while noting
that these intrusion upon seclusion judgments, at the most extreme
end, would not exceed $20,000.
The Court of Appeal set out the three part test as follows:
