Co-Written By William Charnetski & Graeme Coffin
This article first appeared in the April 30, 2001 issue of the New York Law Journal
An increasingly wired world has made the protection of privacy a politically charged issue in many of the industrialized nations where Americans do business. As part of this international trend, Canada, the United States’ largest trading partner, has adopted a national statute regulating the collection, use and disclosure of private information. Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (generally referred to as "PIPEDA") responds both to a European Union directive that requires EU countries to pass legislation prohibiting the transfer of personal information to countries that do not have an adequate level of privacy protection, and to public opinion in Canada. PIPEDA became effective January 1, 2001, although there is a three-year transition period during which most businesseswill not be required to comply.
