Personal Investigations Act, consent, report limits, notice of denial, access and protest
C.C.S.M. c. P34, ss. 3-12.4 and 19
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Enforcement body
- Director appointed under The Personal Investigations Act
- Obligation class
- Consent, Disclosure, Data subject rights
As of .
What it requires
- If you conduct, or cause to be conducted, an inquiry to obtain factual or investigative information about a person from any source other than that person, with a view to entering into or amending an agreement with that person for credit, insurance, employment or tenancy, do not do so without that person's consent given in accordance with the regulations (ss. 1, 3(1)).
- Keep a personal report free of the matters section 4 excludes, among them race, religion, ethnic origin and political affiliation unless the subject volunteered it, discharged bankruptcies more than six years old, statute-barred debts, adverse information more than six years old, and investigative information you have not made reasonable efforts to corroborate (s. 4).
- Do not knowingly divulge the contents of a personal report or personal file to anyone other than a user or its agent who needs it for a decision on the subject's application or another legitimate business purpose, an assignee of the agreement, a government or police officer, or the subject on request (s. 5).
- If the subject is denied a benefit in whole or in part after a personal investigation, tell the subject in writing within 10 days of the denial about the right to be informed, and within 30 days of a request give the name and address of any personal reporting agency used and the source and detail of the information (ss. 6, 7(1)).
- If you are a personal reporting agency, disclose to the subject within 24 hours of a demand the source and detail of the factual information and the nature of the investigative information in the report, and tell anyone who asks whether you hold a personal file on them and what it contains, on payment of the prescribed fee (ss. 7(2), 8(1)).
- When a subject protests information, immediately attempt to verify it and expunge factual or investigative information that cannot be verified, otherwise record the protest, and report what you did to the subject and to anyone given the report in the previous 60 days (s. 11(1)).
- If you are a personal reporting agency, include a security alert in a subject's file on request, give a 24-hour toll-free number for requests, and pass the alert to everyone to whom you divulge the file; if you are a user who receives an alert, verify the identity of the person before entering into, amending or replacing an agreement for credit (ss. 12.1, 12.4).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 19 makes contravention of the Act or the regulations an offense punishable on summary conviction by a fine.
Penalty structure
Section 19 sets the fine at not more than $10,000 for an individual for a first offense and $50,000 for each subsequent offense, and not more than $25,000 for a corporation for a first offense and $100,000 for each subsequent offense.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- CAD
- Fixed cap
- 100,000
What this law does
A personal investigation is an inquiry by any person to obtain factual or investigative information from any source other than the subject with a view to entering into or amending an agreement with the subject for credit, insurance, employment or tenancy. No person may conduct, or cause to be conducted, a personal investigation without the consent of the subject, given in accordance with the regulations.
A personal report may not contain a reference to race, religion, ethnic origin or political affiliation unless the subject voluntarily supplied it, and may not contain any investigative information about the subject unless reasonable efforts have been made to corroborate it. No personal reporter, user or personal reporting agency may knowingly divulge the contents of a personal report or file except to the persons the Act lists.
A user who denies a subject a benefit after a personal investigation must advise the subject in writing within 10 days of the denial of the right to be informed of the information obtained. A personal reporting agency must disclose to the subject, within 24 hours of a demand, the source and detail of the factual information and the nature of the investigative information in the report.
Any person may ask a personal reporting agency whether it maintains a personal file on the person and, on payment of the prescribed fee, is entitled to the disclosure. When a subject protests information, the user, personal reporter or agency must attempt to verify it and expunge it if it cannot be verified, or record the protest if it is sustained. A personal reporting agency must include a security alert in a subject's personal file as soon as practicable after receiving the subject's request.
If a security alert is in place, the personal reporting agency must give it to every person to whom the contents of the subject's personal file or personal report are divulged. A person who contravenes the Act or the regulations is guilty of an offense and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $10,000 for an individual's first offense and $50,000 for each later one, and not more than $25,000 for a corporation's first offense and $100,000 for each later one. The Act as re-enacted in the Revised Statutes of Manitoba, 1987 came into force on .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app crawls the web, makes employment decisions, makes credit decisions, makes insurance decisions or makes housing decisions.