Court of Appeal upholds BC privacy law
In a unanimous decision, the British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld the Personal Information Protection Act, BC's private sector privacy law. The Court rejected calls for a blanket "religious freedom" exemption, saying that such claims must be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The decision involved a request by two former members of a religious organization for copies of records that the organization kept about them. The religious organization refused. When the former members complained to the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the religious organization launched a constitutional challenge of the law, saying that it infringed freedom of religion rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Court of Appeal rejected the constitutional challenge, holding that claims of religious freedom must be determined on a case-by-case basis. This involves weighing the infringement of the Charter rights against the statutory objectives — in this case, the public interest in allowing individuals to know what personal information an organization holds about them. In this particular case, the religious organization did not provide sufficient evidence to allow the Information and Privacy Commissioner to make that determination. The Court ordered the religious organization to provide the records to the Commissioner, who will then decide what must be disclosed to the former members.
Allen / McMillan lawyers John Trueman and Chloe Trudel represented the British Columbia Humanist Association, an intervener in the appeal. Among other things, they argued that religious freedom claims should not undermine individuals' control over their own personal information. AMLC's award-winning pro bono practice helps public interest organizations make their voices heard in important legal cases.
In this digital age, privacy issues have become an important emerging area of law. As part of his administrative law practice, John helps individuals and organizations exercise their information and privacy rights and responsibilities under federal and provincial privacy laws. Contact us for more information.