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ARTICLE · 11 JULY 2019

Is Data Residency Coming To Canada? The OPC Signals A Major Change To Its Policy Position On Transborder Dataflows

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Update: The OPC has announced its intention to suspend the consultation on transborder dataflows. Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien made the announcement

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Update: The OPC has announced its intention to suspend the consultation on transborder dataflows. Privacy Commissioner of Canada Daniel Therrien made the announcement on Thursday, May 23, 2019 at the IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium.

On April 9, 2019, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”) initiated a consultation on transborder dataflows under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) (the “Consultation”). The Consultation comes 10 years after the OPC published its original “Guidelines for Processing Personal Data Across Borders” (the “2009 Guidelines”) and shows a significant shift from its earlier position, with the OPC revising its policy positions on several key matters.

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