Manitoba has now joined BC, Alberta and Quebec by enacting personal information protection and identity theft laws.
On Sept. 13 Manitoba’s new Personal Information Protection and Identity Theft Prevention Act SM2013, C.17 received royal assent. The legislation applies to “every organization and in respect of all personal information.” The legislation relies on the basic principle that personal information may only be collected, used and disclosed with the informed consent of the individual involved and, in many ways, it mirrors the privacy laws in the other two western provinces.
These privacy laws do not apply to public bodies or to personal information under the control of a public body. Public bodies are generally covered by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act . In addition, Manitoba also has a Privacy Act, which creates a cause of action for breach of privacy.
The legislation will fall under the umbrella of the Manitoba Ombudsman who is currently responsible for the FIPPA legislation. This privacy law creates offences for willfully collecting, using or disclosing personal information in contravention of the legislation or for willfully attempting to gain or gaining access to personal information in contravention of the legislation. It is also an offence to dispose or alter, falsify, conceal or destroy personal information or any record relating to personal information, or direct another person to do so, with an intent to evade a request for access to the information or the record.
Now is the time to make sure you understand how this legislation affects your workplace and how you manage clients’ information. ILScorp already includes privacy training courses as part of the general insurance course subscription package – these courses are free for all ILS subscribers.
Completing your privacy training with ILScorp means we will have a record on file of training for all brokers, should you ever need it. And of course, taking courses with ILS is fast, easy and fun!
The general insurance subscription package includes access to more than 160 accredited courses, worth more than 300 continuing education hours. With a wide variety of courses available, you’ll always find something of interest to you and your business.
Not a subscriber yet? Visit www.ilscorp.com to see the benefits and remember, group subscriptions are also available.
