27 April 2009

Government of Canada Protects Canadians with the Electronic Commerce Protection Act

The following news release was issued by Industry Canada on 24 April 2009.

The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, announced that the Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to protect consumers and businesses from the most dangerous and damaging forms of spam. The government has introduced legislation in Parliament that aims to boost confidence in online commerce by protecting the privacy and personal security concerns that are associated with spam, counterfeit websites and spyware.

The proposed Electronic Commerce Protection Act (ECPA) will deter the most dangerous forms of spam, such as identity theft, phishing and spyware, from occurring in Canada and will help drive spammers out of Canada….

Spam and related online threats are a real concern to all Internet users as they can lead to the theft of personal data, such as credit card information (identity theft), online fraud involving counterfeit websites (phishing), the collection of personal information through illicit access to computer systems (spyware), and false or misleading representations in the online marketplace.

The proposed legislation would also treat unsolicited text messages, or “cellphone spam,” as “unsolicited commercial electronic messages.”

This bill would allow businesses and consumers to take civil action against anyone who violates the ECPA. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the Competition Bureau and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner will be given the power to share information and evidence with their counterparts in other countries who enforce similar laws internationally, so that violators beyond our borders cannot use Canada as a spam safe haven. The proposed ECPA would allow the CRTC and the Competition Bureau to charge offenders with administrative monetary penalties of up to $1 million for individuals, and $10 million for all other offenders.

Under the new legislation, Industry Canada will act as a “national coordinating body” in order to increase consumer and business awareness and education, to further coordinate work with the private sector in support of voluntary guidelines, and to conduct research and intelligence gathering.

As part of the proposed ECPA, new legislative measures would complement the federal government's previous efforts to address spam and related online threats.