By Jessica Depatie
Right now privacy protection is all the rage among every level of government.
In principle, privacy is important, but the latest legislation introduced on Jan. 1 may be too much of a good thing.
How does it work?
Say you are a car dealer.
As of the beginning of the year you must contact your customers to get their permission, to contact them.
Without that consent, it’s illegal to contact customers with reminders that it’s time for their vehicles to be serviced, that their vehicle has been recalled, or even that their vehicle is ready to be picked up after servicing.
As local businesses scramble to comply with the new Personal Information Protection and Electronics Document Act (PIPEDA), some are feeling discouraged, while others are just confused.
Businesses from pharmacies to local video stores are affected
And no one seems too sure what to do.
It appears that as late as a month ago, 80 per cent of businesses were unaware that the act had come into effect already.
That creates the potential for a lot of complaints in the very near future.
The businesses that are aware of their new responsibilities are largely frustrated and disillusioned by the new rules.
And many feel they are ridiculous to begin with.
Imaginary privacy lines are being drawn where once there were none.
In theory, it’s all supposed to protect customers.
But in practice, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
These lines have been drawn in pharmacies, where the prescription dispensaries have become their own self-enclosed territories.
Before Jan. 1, both pharmacists and cashiers were allowed to step behind the counter to lend a hand when things were busy.
Now, the only people allowed on this hallowed ground are the pharmacists themselves.
It’s all in the name of protecting of the clients’ privacy of course.
Now, the fear that Jane Doe or Joe Blow may see your prescription for Viagra —and not have the good sense to keep such information to themselves —0 is one that anybody can understand.
But ill-conceived rules by the government are not the way to go.
While non-pharmacists have been banned from the dispensary, they are still allowed to ring through prescriptions.
So, they still have access to the same information at a different counter.
What difference does this make to the client?
The rules are not just difficult to understand. They are also pointless.
Another potential violation is disclosure of information.
Pharmacists must now have written consent from clients to disclose any of their personal information to anybody, including to doctors.
You will no longer be able to say, “honey can you pick up my prescriptions from the drugstore?!”
That would require the pharmacist to release personal information classified under the new law.
The approach many businesses are taking to cover their bases now, is to ask clients as soon as they come in if and how their personal information may be disclosed and to whom.
In the meantime, if Mr. Jones is having a heart attack and his doctor calls the drug store to find out what prescriptions he’s taking, the pharmacist will find him or herself in a sticky situation.
Legally, the pharmacist cannot divulge any specific information regarding Mr. Jones’ medication history unless he has already given explicit permision to do so.
But ethically, it’s another story.
Without prescription information, the doctor is at a serious disadvantage, and may make a fatal error.
For now, the consensus among pharmacists seems to be to give the doctor the prescription information and hope for the best.
Almost everyone agrees that privacy is important.
But government -legislated privacy is the wrong way to go, especially since the new law is awkward, confusing and could potentially harm those it’s meant to protect.