December 07, 2005
TO: All OPSEU
members working for the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC)
____________________________________________________________
RE: The
non-application of the Personal Information Privacy and Electronic
Documents Act (PIPEDA) to union activities
OPSEU is aware that
effective January 1, 2004, the federal “privacy” legislation, the
Personal Information Privacy and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA),
became applicable to provincially-regulated organizations. However,
PIPEDA only applies to an organization in respect of any “personal
information” that is collected, used or disclosed in the course of
“commercial activities”, and the union is not engaged in such activities.
The union is not a commercial organization and therefore PIPEDA does not
impose any new obligations on it.
Unions collect, use and,
in some cases, disclose “personal information” about their members on an
ongoing basis in the normal course of administering the union/member
relationship. However, such conduct does not have a commercial character.
It is simply a regular aspect of administering the union/member
relationship, and is not subject to the obligations of PIPEDA and the
Model Code.
At the same time, OPSEU
is quite aware and has always been sensitive to the need to maintain the
privacy of personal information. Please be assured that, absent
individual express or reasonably implied consent, the union does not and
will not use members’ personal information for any purpose that is
inconsistent with the union purposes for which it is collected.
We trust this information
will address any concerns you may have.
In solidarity,
Robert Field
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