The Canadian Privacy Law Blog: Developments in privacy law and writings of a Canadian privacy lawyer, containing information related to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (aka PIPEDA) and other Canadian and international laws.

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The author of this blog, David T.S. Fraser, is a Canadian privacy lawyer who practices with the firm of McInnes Cooper. He is the author of the Physicians' Privacy Manual. He has a national and international practice advising corporations and individuals on matters related to Canadian privacy laws.

For full contact information and a brief bio, please see David's profile.

Please note that I am only able to provide legal advice to clients. I am not able to provide free legal advice. Any unsolicited information sent to David Fraser cannot be considered to be solicitor-client privileged.

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The views expressed herein are solely the author's and should not be attributed to his employer or clients. Any postings on legal issues are provided as a public service, and do not constitute solicitation or provision of legal advice. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained herein or linked to. Nothing herein should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel.

This web site is presented for informational purposes only. These materials do not constitute legal advice and do not create a solicitor-client relationship between you and David T.S. Fraser. If you are seeking specific advice related to Canadian privacy law or PIPEDA, contact the author, David T.S. Fraser.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Incident: Tax files, private info turn up in Vancouver dumpster 

In case you needed further proof that you must shred all personal information that you're disposing. Loads of personal tax information has surfaced after a high-profile accountant in Vancouver chucked it into a locked dumpster outside his offices:

CTV British Columbia- Tax files, private info turn up in dumpster - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television

... Many of the documents -- marked with phrases such as "personal and confidential" -- come from the office of Peter Roberts, a well-known accountant.

"Oh my gosh," said one of Roberts' clients, David Weinberg, whose name was on several files.

"I'll have him either return this to me or assure me that he will be changing his privacy practices going forward to assure that not just this but all of his clients' documents are properly shredded."

When reached by phone, Roberts said that he put a bag full of the documents in the dumpster on Saturday.

He said he doesn't own a shredder and believed the documents would be safe because the dumpster is secured by a padlock.

But to Vancouver's large and innovative homeless population, a lock isn't much of a safeguard....

Thanks to a regular reader from the west coast for pointing me to this incident.

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