Law / Canada / Saskatchewan
Privacy Act, non-consensual distribution of intimate images
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Obligation class
- Consent, Prohibition
- Audit expectation
- none
As of .
What it requires
- Do not distribute, or threaten to distribute, an intimate image of another person without that person’s consent; the tort is committed if you know the person does not consent or are reckless as to whether the person consents (s. 7.3).
- Treat an image as an intimate image whether or not the person is identifiable and whether or not the image has been altered in any way, if the person in it is or is depicted as nude or engaging in explicit sexual activity and it was recorded in circumstances that gave rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy (s. 7.1).
- Do not assume consent: a person who consented to a recording or provided the image to another person keeps the expectation of privacy where the recipient knew or ought reasonably to have known that the image was not to be distributed, and once an action is commenced you must establish reasonable grounds to believe you had ongoing consent (ss. 7.4, 7.5).
- Be ready to comply with a court order to make every reasonable effort to make intimate images unavailable, including by removing them from a platform you operate as an internet intermediary or de-indexing them from a search engine (s. 7.7(1)(b.1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
An intimate image is a visual recording of a person, whether or not the person is identifiable or the image has been altered in any way, in which the person is or is depicted as nude or exposing his or her genital organs, anal region or breasts, or engaging in explicit sexual activity, if it was recorded in circumstances that gave rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the image.
A person distributes an intimate image if he or she publishes, transmits, sells, advertises or otherwise distributes the image, or makes it available, to a person other than the person who is or is depicted in the image. It is a tort for a person to distribute or threaten to distribute an intimate image of another person without that other person’s consent.
The tort is committed if the person knows that the person who is or is depicted in the image does not consent to the distribution or is reckless as to whether that person consents. An action under section 7.3 may be commenced without proof of damage. Once an action has been commenced, the distribution is presumed not to have been made with consent, and the defendant must establish that he or she had reasonable grounds to believe that he or she had ongoing consent for distribution of the image.
It is a defence if the distribution is in the public interest and does not extend beyond what is in the public interest. The court may award the plaintiff general, special, aggravated and punitive damages. The court may order any internet intermediary or other person or organization to make every reasonable effort to remove or de-index all intimate images of the plaintiff. The Privacy Amendment Act, 2018 added this Part and received assent on .
Saskatchewan fixed as the day on which The Privacy Amendment Act, 2018 came into force. The Privacy (Intimate Images – Additional Remedies) Amendment Act, 2022 received assent on . The 2022 amendments extended the tort to a threat to distribute an intimate image.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform, generates content with AI, reuses other publishers' content or publishes adult content.