CIPPIC Appears Before the Supreme Court in Facebook v Privacy Commissioner

On March 19, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada heard Facebook Inc. v. Privacy Commissioner of Canada and reserved judgment.

The appeal asks whether Facebook complied with PIPEDA when it disclosed users’ personal information to third-party apps. The case arose from the “thisisyourdigitallife” app, launched in November 2013. While only 272 Canadians installed the app, Facebook estimates that the data of more than 600,000 Canadians may have been disclosed.

In response to a complaint against Facebook, the Privacy Commissioner found that Facebook failed to obtain valid, meaningful consent and failed to safeguard user information. To enforce the finding, the Privacy Commissioner launched an application in the Federal Court, who surprisingly dismissed the application. The Federal Court of Appeal allowed the appeal on September 9, 2024. Facebook sought and obtained leave to bring an appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada.

CIPPIC intervened to address PIPEDA’s interpretive framework. CIPPIC argued that PIPEDA is a rights recognizing statute, not a balancing statute. PIPEDA protects the individual’s right of privacy while regulating organizations’ commercial need for personal information. Meaningful consent must therefore mean more than contractual assent to complex terms.

At the hearing, members of the Court appeared receptive to the heart of CIPPIC’s argument: the balancing metaphor does not fit PIPEDA, meaningful consent must exceed contractual consent, and privacy embodies constitutional values. We await the Court’s answer.