BUSINESS LAW - Positive impact of Canada's Privacy Legislation on my future retail business.

Positive impact of Canada's Privacy Legislation on my future retail business.

Privacy deals with protecting personal information. Nowadays, a major business challenge consists of maintaining the privacy of any individual's personal information. As business procedures advance, more and more personal information is being collected and used. As a result, the privacy of personal information has become more vulnerable and is a critical concern for organizations, the government, and the public. As of January 1st 2004, almost all businesses in Canada became a subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. This legislation was previously imposed on federally regulated companies such as banks; however, from January 1st 2004, it applies to all businesses. Moreover, in passing this legislation, the Canadian government has acknowledged that it is very easy for businesses to gather large amounts of personal data on others. A large quantity of personal information is being gathered by businesses, organizations without a valid need to know all of the information they are obtaining.

A sample turn-off notice issued by a utility compa...

English: Spicebird personal information manager

Israeli passport personal-information page

Although, they have a legitimate use for it, the information needs to be safeguarded; hence, it must be collected with the informed consent of a person and cannot be used for other purposes. The collection process has to be regulated, otherwise, that data can be accessed inappropriately. Furthermore, the information can be released to or intercepted by someone without proper authorization, sold to marketers or worse yet, misused by identity thieves. With identity theft, which Canada's Privacy Commissioner has called the fastest-growing crime in North America, and financial or medical records being accessed inappropriately, consumers fear they have lost all control over their personal information. To calm those fears and to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, my future retail business will establish a privacy program that will handle...