The OPC has issued an Interpretation Bulletin on information it considers to be sensitive under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). OPC interpretations are not binding legal interpretations. Rather, they are intended to be a guide for PIPEDA compliance.
Generally, though certain personal information can be sensitive based on context, some personal information is sensitive because of specific risks to individuals associated with the information’s collection, use or disclosure. Some examples of the latter type of information are health information, financial data, ethnic and racial origin, political opinion, sexual orientation and religion. Safeguards organizations put in place to protect personal information should be appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.