Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (abbreviated PIPEDA or PIPED Act) is a Canadian law relating to data privacy. It governs how private sector organizations collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of commercial business. In addition, the Act contains various provisions to facilitate the use of electronic documents. PIPEDA became law on 13 April 2000 to promote consumer trust in electronic commerce. The act was also intended to reassure the European Union that the Canadian privacy law was adequate to protect the personal information of European citizens. In accordance with section 29 of PIPEDA, Part I of the Act ("Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector") must be reviewed by Parliament every five years. The first Parliamentary review occurred in 2007.
PIPEDA incorporates and makes mandatory provisions of the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, developed in 1995. However, there are a number of exceptions to the Code where information can be collected, used and disclosed without the consent of the individual. Examples include reasons of national security, international affairs, and emergencies. Under the act, personal information can also be disclosed without knowledge or consent to investigations related to law enforcement, whether federal, provincial or foreign. There are also exceptions to the general rule that an individual shall be given access to his or her personal information. Exceptions may include information that would likely reveal personal information about a third party, information that cannot be disclosed for certain legal, security, or commercial proprietary reasons, and information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege.


Consent must be garnered for collection of personal information
Collection of personal information limited to reasonable purposes
Limits use and disclosure of personal information
Limits access to personal information
Stored personal information must be accurate and complete
Designates the role of the Privacy Officer
Policies and procedures for breaches of privacy
Measures for resolution of complaints
Special rules for employment relationships


The Personal Health Information Protection Act, known by its acronym PHIPA (typically pronounced 'pee-hip-ah'), established in 2004, outlines privacy regulations for health information custodians in Ontario, Canada. Breaches of PHIPA are directed to the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner.
The Personal Health Information Protection Act serves three important functions:
To govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information by health information custodians".
To provide patients with a right to request access to and correction of their records of personal health information held by health information custodians.
To impose administrative requirements (regulations) on custodians with respect to records of personal health information.


PIPEDA does not create an automatic right to sue for violations of the law's obligations. Instead, PIPEDA follows an ombudsman model in which complaints are taken to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The Commissioner is required to investigate the complaint and to produce a report at its conclusion. The report is not binding on the parties, but is more of a recommendation. The Commissioner does not have any powers to order compliance, award damages or levy penalties. The organization complained about does not have to follow the recommendations. The complainant, with the report in hand, can then take the matter to the Federal Court of Canada. The responding organization cannot take the matter to the Courts, because the report is not a decision and PIPEDA does not explicitly grant the responding organization the right to do so.
PIPEDA provides, at section 14, the complainant the right to apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a hearing with respect to the subject matter of the complaint. The Court has the power to order the organization to correct its practices, to publicise the steps it will take to correct its practices and to award damages.