October 21st - 2003

Questions about privacy compliance?

As of January 1, 2004 all Ontario REALTORS will need to comply with the requirements of PIPEDA

As of January 1, 2004 all Ontario REALTORS will need to comply with the requirements of PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act), the federal government’s new privacy legislation.  Will you be ready to comply?

As the deadline for Privacy Act compliance approaches, many REALTORS have questions about their individual compliance requirements.  Everything you need to know about privacy compliance is available through a number of resources including CREA’s privacy code and REALTOR toolkit available on REALTORLink www.realtorlink.ca; an OREA continuing education seminar entitled, “Complying with Privacy” as well as a new “privacy compliance area” at www.orea.com; and the federal government website www.privcom.gc.ca.

REALTORS are encouraged to attend the seminar and to frequently visit the privacy compliance section of the OREA website for updates.  Also, REALTOR EDGE newsletter will continue to publish a series of privacy compliance articles including some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about privacy.

The privacy FAQ’s will be continuously updated and REALTORS are asked to submit their own general privacy questions via email to privacy@orea.com for possible inclusion in the electronic FAQ document on the OREA website While it will be impossible to respond to each question on an individual basis, the answers to the questions that apply to and benefit the general membership will appear in the FAQ document.

Here are some privacy compliance FAQ’s to date:

Question: Why do we need to educate ourselves about the Privacy Act?

Answer: Because it is the law and every brokerage firm and every REALTOR in Ontario will need to abide by that law.  Learning about privacy compliance will make it easier for REALTORS to ensure they don’t violate the law.  In addition, it is required by the CREA Privacy Code.

Question: What is the purpose of the Act?

Answer: PIPEDA protects an individual’s right to privacy in regards to their personal information.  Under this new law no one can make use of a person’s personal information without that person’s consent.

Question: Will this change the way REALTORS do business?

Answer: Yes.  The following are examples of just some of the changes that will need to be implemented.  REALTORS will need to follow the privacy policies put forth by their brokerage firm (sample privacy policies are contained in the CREA REALTOR Toolkit as well in the OREA “Complying with Privacy” continuing education seminar materials).  The individual REALTOR will be accountable for the protection of personal information under his or her control and a brokerage firm will be responsible for all personal information collected by the firm and by the REALTORS and other employees within the firm.  Every firm must designate an individual as the Privacy Compliance Officer.   That person will be responsible for implementing the firm’s privacy policies, training staff on privacy compliance issues and responding to questions and requests from the public on privacy matters.  

Question: I plan on using my client’s existing personal information for a new purpose (ie. a purpose that was not part of the original consent when I first obtained the personal information). What do I need to do?

Answer: Further consent must be obtained before that information is used or disclosed for the new purpose and a record of this additional consent should be documented.  The client must be given the purpose for which this new consent is needed and the purpose must be reasonable.

Question: What types of consent can I obtain? 

Answer - Consent can be express or implied.  Express consent is actually obtained from the person – either in person, by phone, by mail, by response card, by e-mail, or over the Internet, etc.  Express consent should be obtained whenever practical.  If the personal information is considered sensitive (eg. information relating to a person’s health, finances, religious or other beliefs, sexual orientation, etc.), obtaining express written consent is always the best approach.  When obtaining verbal consent, it should be documented somewhere in the file. 

Consent can be implied when it can be reasonably assumed the individual would expect the information to be disclosed.  For example, when giving a furniture store an address for the delivery of a new couch, it can be reasonably assumed that the furniture store would need to disclose that personal information (the address) to the trucking company that actually makes the delivery.  Implied consent should not be relied upon for sensitive personal information

Question:  What if I obtain someone’s personal information from a third party?

Answer:  REALTORS and firms will need to obtain assurances from the third party that the information was collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the Privacy Act.  Also, if REALTORS share information with a third party, they will first need to obtain the client or customer’s consent to sharing that information and they will also need to ensure the third party will comply with the Privacy Act in regards to the use and disclosure of that information.  For example, a REALTOR cannot provide a list of recent homebuyers to a local moving company without asking for the homebuyers’ consent to do that first and without obtaining assurances from that moving company that it will collect, use or disclose that personal information in compliance with PIPEDA.

Complying with privacy legislation will be relatively simple for REALTORS if they keep in mind this basic concept when dealing with consumers:

Tell them what you are going to do with the information.

 

  • Get their consent to do that.
  • Just collect the information you need, in order to do what you said and then only do with it what you said you were going to do with it.
  • Make sure that you protect the personal information that is within your custody and control.

Watch for more on privacy legislation compliance in upcoming issues of the REALTOR EDGE.

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For more information contact

Ontario Real Estate Association

Jean-Adrien Delicano

Senior Manager, Media Relations

JeanAdrienD@orea.com

416-445-9910 ext. 246

Ontario Real Estate Association
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