Privacy Rights
Privacy Rights
In Manitoba, there are four main laws in place to protect your personal information. These laws ensure your rights to access the personal information institutions hold about you, and control the collection, sharing, and handling of your personal information.
Which of these laws applies depends on the type of personal information and the organization that holds it. Each law regulates certain types of information held by specific institutions, organizations, or professionals. These laws also provide for independent review processes to investigate complaints.
You can find more information on the link below.
Legislation
- Privacy ActFederal law that protects the personal information of individuals collected by government institutions, as well as provide the rights to access and correct that information.
- Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)Federal Law that governs personal information collected by private-sector organizations in the course of their commercial activities.
- Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FIPPA)Provincial law that provides the rights of access to information held by government institutions and the right to protection of an individual's personal information collected by government institutions.
- Personal Health Information ActProvincial law that specifically deals with Personal Health Information held by trustees (e.g. health professionals, hospitals, clinics, etc.)
Independent Offices Overseeing Privacy Rights
- Office of the Privacy Commissioner of CanadaThe Privacy Commissioner of Canada is an Agent of Parliament whose mission is to protect and promote privacy rights. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) oversees compliance with the Privacy Act, which covers the personal information-handling practices of federal government departments and agencies, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law.
- Office of Manitoba OmbudsmanThe Manitoba Ombudsman, an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, investigates complaints about access to information and privacy matters, as well as the fairness of government actions or decisions, or serious 'wrongdoings' that members of the public believe may have occurred. The Access and Privacy Division is responsible for investigating complaints and reviewing compliance with access to information and protection of privacy rights under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA).
The Right to Be Forgotten
Information people share on the Internet about themselves or others can be found by anyone almost indefinitely. Some countries have recognized people's right to be forgotten, or "right to erasure". This means that individuals can request search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, Yahoo) to remove links with personal information that are no longer necessary for processing purposes, inaccurate, irrelevant, inadequate, or excessive.
While already adopted in the European Union since 2014, the discussion in Canada has only started in 2018 upon the recommendation of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The following are some news articles and opinion pieces from experts on the topic.
- Grappling with the right to be forgotten - CBA NationalNational Magazine is the official periodical of the Canadian Bar Association, covering the latest trends and developments affecting the legal profession and the practice of law. - Published February 10, 2020
- CBC News – Europeans have a 'right to be forgotten' online. Should Canadians?Posted September 26, 2019
- Erasure of Online Information: Canada - Library of Congress LawA summary of the current legal situation regarding the right to erasure of online information in Canada from the Library of Congress of the United States of America.
- Draft OPC Position on Online ReputationThe Office of the Privacy Commissioner's draft position and recommendation to adopt right to be forgotten measures with in Canadian legislation. Posted in January 26, 2018
- Right to be forgotten and online information removal under debateCanadian Lawyer - a magazine on legal matters in Canada by Thompson Reuter, a well-known publisher of legal texts
Published April 5, 2018