Corporate call registration laws are enshrined in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). However, some provinces have their own provincial data protection legislation, which regulates call recording for businesses. For example, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own privacy laws; However, they are considered similar to PIPEDA. Recordings made with the consent of a party may be used as evidence in litigation. People have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they are in certain areas. This includes areas such as bedrooms, bathrooms, changing rooms, etc. In general, the rule of thumb here is that if you are not a party to the conversation or if the person is in a private place where they expect to be alone, recording their conversations is illegal. As attorney general and attorney general, Ms. Wilson-Raybould was indeed the canadian government`s lead lawyer, leading to questions about whether her recording of a conversation with Wernick – the government`s top official – violated the professional rules for client-lawyer conversations. Although the court found that his dismissal was for other reasons, the court dismissed the issue of workplace recording, stating: Canadians who have questions about the legality of telephone recordings and other privacy issues can contact the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of Canada. Canada`s record-keeping laws state that it is illegal to intentionally intercept a private communication (section 183 of the Canadian Criminal Code).
Interception means listening; Registration; Acquisition or acquisition of the substance, meaning or purpose of the communication. You are not allowed to secretly hear someone else`s conversation, let alone record it. In fact, it is illegal in Canada to possess secret recording devices. So, if you have a private conversation with your colleague or manager, you can record the conversation without getting your consent. This is consistent with the “consent of a party” exception. However, you cannot record an exchange or meeting held by your colleagues without consent by hiding a recording device in the meeting room. In labour arbitration, arbitrators will dismiss a secret record based on labour law theory that its admission would undermine the future bargaining relationship between the union and the employer, or accept the secret record based on common law theory that everything relevant should be allowed. In accordance with the latter theory, in one case, a judge in a family law case said: So, if the employer wants to be able to record conversations with employees related to their work and use those records to manage the employment relationship, the employer must inform employees that it is doing so. However, recording all conversations with employees may not be appropriate, regardless of the fact that the employer has a policy that states that they can record any conversation with an employee at any time. Alberta`s privacy law also requires employers to inform their employees that recordings are taking place and to inform them of how the records are being used. Audio recording laws do not apply to videos, such as surveillance recordings, where no sound is recorded.
The Canadian Criminal Code applies to video surveillance equipment only if it is used to intercept (intercept) private communications. For the purpose of recording and intercepting private conversations, police and other government officials are subject to the same rules as individuals. Except in exceptional cases, the police must obtain the prior approval of a judge by means of an arrest warrant. The police are also subject to various disclosure rules that apply specifically to secretly obtained audio evidence. It is therefore apparent from this procedure that the judge does not authorise secret files in the workplace because they constitute a fault or cause an employer to lose confidence in an employee. For example, it may appear that a recorded conversation with an employee about their performance in the workplace falls within the exceptions in section 15 of Alberta`s Privacy Act. However, when employers collect, use and disclose an employee`s personal information (including recorded conversations), the employer must first inform the employee of the information that has been collected and how it will be used or disclosed. For example, if conversations with employees can be recorded as part of the performance management program or an investigation process, the employer must inform employees that they can record conversations with them about the use of those recordings and determine who the employee can talk to about the recordings. In addition, the reasons for collecting this information in this way must be reasonable.
Companies must also obtain the customer`s consent and indicate the purpose of the registration. This can be done passively – for example, if you call your bank or mobile operator and receive an automated message saying “This call may be recorded for quality control purposes” and you continue the call, your consent is implied. Organizations in Canada must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) when recording a conversation. The PIPEDA Act in Canada deals with data protection. This law regulates the collection, use and disclosure of personal data in the course of commercial activities. For example, under Alberta`s Privacy Act, organizations may collect personal information about employees (including recorded conversations) for reasonable purposes if: If you are released from work without a valid reason, you are entitled to reasonable notice or payment in lieu of termination of employment upon termination of employment. However, if you are dismissed for cause, you are not entitled to notice or severance pay. So if you`re caught taking secret photos of your employer, your employer can fire you without severance pay, arguing that your dismissal was for cause. With that in mind, if you`re caught taking your boss to work, your employer can either fire you on the spot for no reason (and pay you severance pay), or claim that you`ll be fired for cause and not pay you severance pay.
For example, it is not illegal to record your meeting with your supervisor, but it is illegal to install a recording device in the meeting between your supervisor and someone else if you are not present at that particular conversation. You may have the right to record a conversation in the workplace with your boss without him knowing that you are making the recording, think carefully about how you want to use that recording, and if, when using the recording, you venture into an area where your boss can sue you (and possibly a claim for damages) for trespassing in isolation. WATCH: Will the Liberals kick Jody Wilson-Raybould out of caucus because of admission? Private conversations obtained by illegal wiretapping are inadmissible in court unless they are proceedings: In Hart v. Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited [2017] MBQB 68, a Manitoba court considered whether an employee`s secret records with management were, among other things, “just cause.” While the court found that a valid reason was justified on other grounds, the court commented on the issue of the employee`s secret recordings: law firms such as the Law Society of Ontario, of which Wilson-Raybould is an honorary member, prohibit lawyers from recording calls with clients without the client`s express permission. PIPEDA also states that users have the right to access their call recordings, information about how records are used, and disclosure of their records upon request. Let`s get back to the question at hand: If I`m in a meeting with my boss where we`re going to discuss my job performance, can I use my phone to record the conversation? Suppose you accept the recording and it is your performance that is discussed, then you can, yes, use your phone to record the conversation.