Invasion of Privacy in the Context of an Investigation: Does it Render Evidence Inadmissible in Canadian Civil Proceedings?

Abstract

As information becomes an ever-increasingly valuable commodity and, some would argue, as personal information becomes the most highly valued subset of that commodity, organizations are becoming all too familiar with some of the potential consequences of a breach of privacy or data protection law. It seems every week we see new media headlines relating to information security breaches, resulting class actions and complaints to privacy commissioners. Savvy organizations know that the biggest consequence of a privacy breach can be a loss of consumer trust, and, with that loss, damage to brand, reputation, and often share value.