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ARTICLE · 16 FEBRUARY 2017

The New U.S. Executive Order: Effects On Canadian Privacy Laws And Cross Border Data Transfers

McCarthy Tétrault
McCarthy Tétrault
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President Donald J. Trump's executive order issued January 25, 2017, contained one little paragraph with big words about Canadians'—and other non-U.S. citizens'—privacy:

CanadaPrivacy
CyberLex Blog
CyberLex Blog
Emily MacKinnon
Emily MacKinnon
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President Donald J. Trump's executive order issued January 25, 2017, contained one little paragraph with big words about Canadians'—and other non-U.S. citizens'—privacy:

Sec. 14. Privacy Act. Agencies shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law, ensure that their privacy policies exclude persons who are not United States citizens or lawful permanent residents from the protections of the Privacy Act regarding personally identifiable information.

This paragraph has triggered alarm in some corners of the Internet. However, on closer inspection, it doesn't appear to change much, at least legally speaking and from a Canadian private-sector perspective.

This section of President Trump's order concerns only one statute: the Privacy Act. The order, like the Act itself, is directed only at executive departments and agencies. And it concerns only their policies. Thus, the executive order does not appear to change any person's substantive legal rights or

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