Glossary
PIPEDA
Canada's federal privacy law for how private-sector organizations collect, use and share personal information.
What is PIPEDA?
PIPEDA is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. It is Canada's federal privacy law for private-sector organizations that collect, use or share personal information in commercial activity. It is overseen by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
The 10 fair information principles
- Accountability
- Identifying purposes
- Consent
- Limiting collection
- Limiting use, disclosure and retention
- Accuracy
- Safeguards
- Openness
- Individual access
- Challenging compliance
Breaches
Organizations must report breaches that create a real risk of significant harm to the Privacy Commissioner, notify the affected people, and keep a record of every breach of security safeguards for 24 months.
Provincial laws
Some provinces have their own laws that apply instead of, or alongside, PIPEDA. Examples include Quebec's private-sector law as updated by Law 25, and health privacy laws such as Ontario's PHIPA. Which law applies depends on the province and the type of organization.
This is a plain-language summary for general information, not legal advice. Check the current rules with a qualified adviser for your lab.
How Lab Desk handles it
Lab Desk is built to follow PIPEDA's privacy principles. Canadian labs are told their data is stored in the US, and the Data Processing Agreement sets out how it is protected. See PIPEDA at Lab Desk.
Related terms
- UK GDPR: The UK's main data protection law, which sets rules for handling personal data, including health data.
- HIPAA: The US law that sets national rules for protecting the privacy and security of health information.
- PHI (protected health information): Health information that can identify a person and is held or shared by a HIPAA covered entity or its business associate.
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