Canada has privacy laws and they are taken quite seriously, but really how protected are you?Every time you use a debit card, credit card, apply for a loan, mortgage, insurance, even some utilities you are disclosing sensitive and private information.Every time you log on to a website, your computer location is being traced and recorded.Personal data is being collected about you every day of your life and you may not even know it.What is more, that data may not be held in your best interests.
Your purchasing habits, interests on the web, credit history, payroll information, among any number of other little tidbits that we don’t think about is being collected and stored away; somewhere, but we have no idea where.It becomes a matter of reading the fine print.Even then you may not be told.
The laws in Canada are very specific however data can be held outside Canada with or without your expressed permission and is subject to the laws of that country and region, not Canadian Privacy Law.What this means to you is that your personal data can be bought and sold without your knowledge because you signed on the dotted line before reading the fine print.This is not paranoia or conspiracy theory, it is fact.
This personal data is out of your hands and control as soon as it leaves Canadian jurisdiction.Consider the recent data theft from the parent company of a popular clothing store; Winners.The data was being kept in the USA and as such not under the control of Canadian Privacy Law.Canadian consumers had no recourse to the loss of this information.The same holds true for your personal financial information.
If the data you provide to a lender whose parent company is beyond Canadian borders, then it is possible that information could reside with that parent company, or another company it designates.You have no control over it.
Maybe you have just applied for a credit card from Company A and their parent company is in the USA.Your information could very well be sent there “for approval”.Of course there is no guarantee it is removed if approval is denied.That information could be sent to another company for “safekeeping” or it could be sold.It could be provided to their government without your consent.You have no way of preventing it; unless you read the fine print and ask the right questions.
Canadian Privacy Law only applies in Canada.Read the fine print before signing on the dotted line.That great deal may not be so great if your information is lost or stolen.