Canadian Federation of Independent Business

Question: Discuss about the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Answer: Introduction: On May 14th, 2003, the Bill for this act was introduced in the Alberta Legislature (Government of Alberta, 2017a). The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), 2003 was incepted on 1st January 2004 (Canadian Federation of Independent Business, 2017). The reason behind the establishment of this act was to provide such a legislature which could oversee the disclosure, usage and collection of the personal information by various organizations. And this had to be done in such a manner which would recognize the rights of an individual, towards their personal information to be safeguarded, plus the requirement of the organizations to disclose, to collect or to make use of the private information for rational reasons. Since its inception, PIPA has been amended four times, and the latest amendment was done in 2014. On November 18th, 2014, PIPA was amended so as to permit the trade unions to collect, disclose and use the personal information without the consent to persuade or inform the public regarding any matter which is importance for some labour relations dispute or significant public interest. The reason for such amendments was to resolve the disputes or the matters which involve public interest in a swift manner, as taking permissions consumes time, which in precious and limited in such circumstances (Government of Alberta, 2017a). PIPA is the private sector privacy law of Alberta. And as such, it is applicable to all such private sector businesses and organizations which are within Alberta, and in some cases, is also applicable to non-profits organizations with the intention of protecting the personal information, along with providing the right of access to the personal information of the individual by themselves. The act is only applicable on limited basis to some of the non-profit organization and these include the ones established under the Agricultural Societies Act, the Societies Act, or to such organizations which are registered under the Companies Acts part 9, which relates to charities (Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations, 2017). Though, this act is not applicable on the public bodies, for instance the municipalities and the government departments, as on them the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is applicable (Government of Alberta, 2017b). Purpose and Overview of the Act PIPA was introduced to govern the personal informations handing by the organizations in Alberta. Through this act, an attempt is made to balance the rights of a person to have their private information safeguarded with the requirement of the organization to disclose, to collect and to make use of this information for sensible/rationale and legitimate reasons (Law Society of Alberta, 2010). PIPA also provides the individuals the right to ask the organizations to see the personal information which such organizations have about them and to establish how such information is utilized and disclosed, and even ask for corrections in case the individuals believe that some mistake has been made (OIPC, 2008). Some of the key provisions of PIPA relate to the accumulation/ gathering of private information for sensible/rationale purposes; permission/consent/approval has to be taken for collection of private information, unless provisions under PIPA specifically provides that the consent is not required; limits the access to, the usage of and the disclosing of the private information; the private information has to be stored in complete and accurate manner; policies and procedures are provided for breach of privacy; and measures are provided to resolve the complaints (Alberta Queens Printer, 2014). In Alberta, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner or OIPC is responsible for overseeing the privacy legislation. And since PIPA is a privacy legislation of Alberta, it is overseen by OIPC (Government of Alberta, 2012). Employment Related Situations An employer needs some personal information of the employee in order to process the payroll and has to follow the laws relating to pension plans, income tax and employment insurance (Service Alberta, 2010). Under section 15, 18, 21 of PIPA, an employer can collect the personal information of the employee without the permission/consent/approval for sensible/rationale purposes, which are associated to the recruitment, to the management, or to the termination of the employees (Turnbull, 2009). The employer in such cases is held responsible as PIPA requires the accumulation of information for the quoted purposes only which have to be reasonable. It is also required from the employer to give the notice of purpose to employees, and in case such notice is not given, then the consent is required (Service Alberta, 2010). PIPA protects the rights of the employees in such situations by providing the employee the right to request the access to or regarding the rectification of their private information, under section 24. Moreover, section 33 makes it obligatory for the employer to make the reasonable efforts to make certain that the information collected is complete and accurate. Furthermore, such information has to be safeguarded against destruction, modification and unauthorized access through section 34. Lastly, section 35 provides the protection as such information can only be retained for legal purposes for reasonable time (Service Alberta, 2010). So, the act would be applicable for both the employee and employer in different manner. If the notice is not given properly, correction in information is denied, or the consent is not taken, it is deemed as a breach of this act, and accordingly, the employer is deemed to have committed an offence under section 59 and the penalties covered under this act are imposed (Alberta Queens Printer, 2014). Second Situation In some situations, the employees are required to undergo hearing tests due to the applicability of the Health and Safety Act 2009. An independent physician conducts the test upon making a contract with the employer and the summary of the tests is sent to the employer. This summary is the personal information of the employee, as this information was to be collected under the law by the employer dye to its obligation by virtue of being an employer. And as highlighted in the sections covered in previous problem, the employer has the liberty to collect this information devoid of any consent, although the employer has to give a proper notice under section 14(b) (Service Alberta, 2010). This is because the collection was through the requirement or authorization of the Albertas statute or the regulation. And similarly, if such a notice is not given in proper manner, than an offence would be committed by the employer, who would then be liable for penalties stated under PIPA. References Alberta Queens Printer. (2014). Personal Information Protection Act. Retrieved from: https://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/P06P5.pdf Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations. (2017). Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act. Retrieved from: https://www.calgarycvo.org/albertas-personal-information-protection-act/ Canadian Federation of Independent Business. (2017). The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA): guidelines for Alberta businesses. Retrieved from: https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/article/377-the-personal-information-protection-act-pipa.html Government of Alberta. (2012). Privacy law. Retrieved from: https://www.albertacanada.com/business/invest/privacy-law.aspx Government of Alberta. (2017a). Overview. Retrieved from: https://www.servicealberta.ca/legislative-history.cfm Government of Alberta. (2017b). Overview. Retrieved from: https://www.servicealberta.ca/pipa-overview.cfm Law Society of Alberta. (2010). Privacy Legislation and Model Privacy Policies. Retrieved from: https://www.lawsociety.ab.ca/files/practice_advisors/Privacy_Legislation_and_Model_Privacy_Policies_2010.pdf OIPC. (2008). A Guide for Businesses and Organizations. Retrieved from: https://www.oipc.ab.ca/media/383666/guide_for_businesses_on_pipa_nov2008.pdf Service Alberta. (2010). Personal Employee Information. Retrieved from: https://cms.abvma.ca/uploads/Employee%20privacy2014.pdf Turnbull, I.J. (2009). Privacy in the Workplace (2nd ed.). Ontario: CCH Canadian Limited.