Living and working with the Personal Information Protection and (depending on Province,) Electronic Documents Act...

Privacy, it's often called the right to be left alone. It reflects people's revulsion to being monitored, scrutinized or bothered. That's what invasion of privacy means to many people. The United Nations recognizes privacy as a fundamental human right. It's sometimes described as "the right from which all freedoms flow".

The kind of invasion of privacy that is less obvious is the collection, use and disclosure of information about us without our knowledge or consent. Canadian Labour Congress President Ken Georgetti said on the topic of privacy, "Canadians find repulsive the prospect of increased, continuing and hidden surveillance of their lives. They've seen the movies about countries that keep files on their citizens. They don't like them, they don't want that. They won't stand for it".

Our privacy used to be protected more or less by default. Scattered bits of random information about us were recorded on paper. It would've taken a lot of work to create a profile of an individual. No one bothered unless you were famous or had done something really bad.

That's all changed, with computerization, massive databases and increasingly invasive Orwellian technology. Now some hacker sitting at a computer keyboard can assemble a profile on you, or duplicate of you, in a matter of minutes. When used with ill intent it can produce enormous stress, humiliation, financial loss and even loss of identity. Now it is we, as individuals and as a society who must go to considerable trouble to ensure that our privacy and personal identity remain respected.

The fact that most provinces until recently had no legislation or varying degrees of privacy rights demonstrated the need to clarify ‘Individual's Rights’. There was a need, and when an opportunity arose privacy rules were proposed that would provide a level playing field and discourage companies from moving to provinces with lower privacy protection.

Given the inconsistencies between Canadian Province's privacy protection, it appeared that nation-wide federal protection would be the best way to ensure consistent protection for all Canadian workers, regardless of which province they are in. In the words of Privacy Commissioner, Bruce Phillips, "Just being employed should not mean that you check your privacy rights at the office or factory door".

The Canadian Standards Association developed a Model Code for the protection of personal information, which was incorporated into Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA and the PIPA Personal Information Protection Acts). These 'Acts' contain the 10 interrelated Principles of fair information practices which form ground rules for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information in a way that a "reasonable person" would consider appropriate in the circumstances. These principles clarify the individual's protection rights and lets organizations know what level of protection is appropriate.

The 10 Principles are: Accountability, Identifying Purposes, Consent, Limiting Collection, Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention, Accuracy, Safeguards, Openness, Individual Access, Challenging Compliance.

The First District Office is taking steps to ensure compliance in order to meet its obligations under the Act. As per Principle # 1 "Accountability", the IBEW First District Office has designated International Representative Christine Pynaker to oversee compliance with the 10 Principles as set forth in Schedule l of the PIPED Act.

In an effort to assist the local unions towards achieving compliance, the First District Office is building a template or pattern policy in accordance with the 10 principles of the Act. This will make the task of implementing the local's applicable policies and how the practices are handled a simpler more streamline process. This template/pattern provides consistency and will include the IBEW’s principles and values for use by every IBEW local across Canada.

In addition a PIPEDA/PIPA course has been developed and is available on request for instruction to your local. The course includes a close look at the 10 Principles and the union's privacy responsibilities.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, AFL-CIO, CLC

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