In Leon’s Furniture Limited v. Alberta, the Alberta Court of Appeal considered several issues relating to the interpretation of the Personal Information Privacy Act (PIPA).
This case was a judicial review of a decision by the Privacy Commissioner finding that it was unreasonable for the appellant Leon’s Furniture Ltd. to record driver’s license and vehicle registration information when a person picks up a good. At the tribunal level, the adjudicator found that both driver’s license information and vehicle registration numbers were personal information and it was unreasonable for the appellant to record them.
First, Slatter, J.A. and the majority held that a retailer is permitted to collect personal information where it would be reasonable. They therefore found the tribunal's decision in this regard unreasonable, and overturned it. Conrad, J.A. dissented, finding that the PIPA was enacted to protect individuals’ personal information, and collection can only occur if the information is necessary or subject to the exceptions listed in the Act.
Second, Slatter, J.A. and the majority found that while driver’s license numbers are personal information, vehicle registration numbers are not. In order to be personal information, the information must be about an “identifiable individual” (s 1(k) of the PIPA). The individual must be specifically identified by the information, and the information must be about the individual. Since vehicle registration numbers identify a vehicle and not a person, they are not personal information. Conrad, J.A. dissented and would have found both the driver’s license number and vehicle registration numbers to be personal information. Conrad, J.A. would have interpreted the words “information about an identifiable individual” in section 1(k) of the PIPA broadly and include any information about a person that could be identified from the information itself or who could be identified in combination with information from another source.
Finally, Slatter, J.A. and the majority found it reasonable for a retailer to record personal information when goods are picked up and allowed the appeal. The record of driver’s license information when picking up goods acts to deter fraud and provide information to authorities where fraud has occurred. The question of whether the information was improperly stored was not argued in this case. In dissent, Conrad, J.A. found that driver’s license numbers could be used for the purposes of identity theft and therefore would have upheld the adjudicator’s decision.
March 28, 2011
Link to Decision
Mary Phan
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