“Personal information” under Canada’s Privacy Act means information about an “identifiable individual.”

It includes your: name, age, weight, height; medical records; income; purchases and spending habits; race, ethnic origin and colour; blood type; DNA code; fingerprints; marital status; religion; education; and home address and phone number.

“Personal information” does not include the: name, job title, business address or office telephone number of an employee of an organization.

How does the Act protect your personal information?

The law gives you the right to: know why an organization collects, uses or discloses your personal information; expect an organization to collect, use or disclose your personal information reasonably and appropriately, and not use the information for any purpose other than that to which you have consented; know who in the organization is responsible for protecting your personal information; expect an organization to protect your personal information by taking appropriate security measures; expect the personal information an organization holds about you to be accurate, complete and up-to-date; obtain access to your personal information and ask for corrections if necessary; and complain about how an organization handles your personal information if you feel your privacy rights have not been respected.

An organization may not need to obtain your consent if collecting the information clearly benefits you and your consent cannot be obtained in a timely way; or if the information is needed by a law enforcement agency for an investigation, and getting consent might compromise the information’s accuracy. •