U.S. And Canadian Privacy Considerations For Mergers And Acquisitions

The exchange of information about individuals, including customers, employees and security holders, is often an integral part of merger and acquisition transactions. Compliance with privacy law is and will continue to be a considerationin merger and acquisition transactions in light of evolving privacy regulation and enforcement regarding personal information. This article provides an overview of U.S. and Canadian privacy considerations for mergers and acquisitions.

U.S. and Canadian Privacy Law Overview

The law relating to privacy differs significantly as between the U.S. and Canada.

A.  U.S. privacy law

The United States has various federal and state privacy laws that apply to certain types of information, entities and circumstances. There are also federal and state privacy guidance and industry standards that are considered best practices. For example, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") final privacy report on consumer privacy describes best