Charter Challenge to PIPEDA

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, along with Chris Parsons of the Citizen Lab, have filed a challenge to some provisions of PIPEDA, specifically the parts of the Act that allow private corporations to disclose user personal information without a warrant to a government institution, for a number of reasons, including national security and the enforcement of any law of Canada, a province or a foreign jurisdiction. 

The fact that the information is being obtained from the private sector further complicates things.  As CCLA's General Counsel stated:  "Non-state actors are playing an increasingly large role in providing law enforcement and government agencies with information they request.  The current scheme is completely lacking in transparency and is inadequate in terms of accountability mechanisms."     

CCLA's legal challenge asks that provisions of PIPEDA be struck as an unconstitutional violation of the right to life, liberty and security of the person (s.7) and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure (s.8) under the Charter.