ACEP Business Networking Meeting
Friday March 5, 2004, 12 Noon – 2:00 pm

Place: Century Palace Chinese Restaurant
Address: 398 Ferrier Street, Markham
Cost: $15 per person, $10 members (Chinese Dim Sum)

Guest Speaker: Mr. Gordon Jang, Senior Vice President Smartech Consulting Inc.
Topic: “The Privacy Act (PIPEDA) – how does it impact your business”

Mr. Jang is a Senior Vice President and Privacy Officer at Smartech Consulting Inc, a progress software development and consulting company in Markham. Prior to joining Smartech, he was the Chief Technology and Privacy Officer at the largest mortgage origination company in Canada. He has extensive executive management experience in the financial and technology sectors. With over 25 years tenure at a large Canadian bank, Mr. Jang is intimately familiar with personal privacy issues. An accomplished speaker, Mr. Jang has presented in 5 countries as well as appeared on national television. He started his career at a tender age of twelve.

ACEP (Asian Canadian Entrepreneurs and Professionals) hosted a network luncheon on March 5, 2004, at the New Century Palace Restaurant in Markham, Ontario. Among the attendees were business educators, bankers and local entrepreneurs. Markham government representative Jack Heath also attended this meeting.

After a Dim Sum lunch, Mr. Gordan Jang of Smartech Consulting Inc. gave a talk on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which is a federal law that protects the privacy of individuals. This law has been fully enforced since January 1, 2004, and failure to comply with it may incur fines up to $100,000.00 per infraction. A company violating this law will also suffer negative publicity that will be very detrimental to its image and reputation.

Under PIPEDA, any company collecting information for use in commercial activities must state clearly the purpose for the collection, ask only questions relevant to the stated purpose, safeguard and update the data collected, and obtain the individual’s consent for the use and disclosure of the personal information acquired. Personal information, in such a case, means any information on an identifiable individual that does not appear on a business card. In addition, the company must disclose to the individual its policies and practices relating to management of personal information, provide means for the individual to review and amend the data collected, as well as show an audit trail on how the information has been used.

As a consumer, the individual has the right to review and amend the personal information given, demand the organization to show consent evidence and audit trail of use and disclosure, change or revoke consent for the use of the data, and be assured against identity theft that may occur through the company in question.

Since the company is fully accountable for the accuracy of and access to information under its control, it is therefore advisable for the company to publish a privacy policy and train its staff on the subject. Reviewing practices of this policy from time to time is useful in identifying and closing gaps that may occur. To facilitate the operation, a special officer should be appointed to handle privacy related inquiries and complaints.

For more information, please use the following:

Websites:

Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
www.cica.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/10582/la_id/1.htm

Canadian Privacy Commissioner
www.privcom.gc.ca/inforamtion/guide_e.asp

PIPEDA General Information Web Site
www.pipeda.org

Smartech Consulting Web Site
www.smartech.on.ca