Under PIPEDA, what is defined as personal information?

Personal information, as defined under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), encompasses any data that relates to an identifiable individual. This means that it includes a wide array of information, such as names, addresses, personal history, and more, as long as it can be used to identify an individual either directly or indirectly.

The broad scope of this definition is important because it encompasses not just obvious identifiers like a person’s name and address but also other data that can be linked to a specific person, like their opinions, preferences, and other personal characteristics. This comprehensive approach is designed to protect individual privacy and ensure that organizations handle personal data responsibly and transparently.

In contrast, the other options do not adequately represent the full definition of personal information under PIPEDA. For instance, financial information represents only a subset of personal information, while publicly available information does not fall under the same privacy protections because it cannot be used to identify individuals uniquely. Information collected without consent also contradicts PIPEDA’s core principles, which emphasize the necessity of obtaining an individual’s consent before collecting or utilizing their personal data.