Privacy Law: What’s the Big Idea?

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 20:09:12 Z

So, you’ve probably heard about privacy law.

And you’ve probably heard about the idea that you need to consent to the use your personal information data.

And you might have even heard about some of the specific acts that are meant to protect your personal information, like these:

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, SC 2000, c-5
Personal Information Privacy Act, SA 2003, c. P-6.5
Personal Information Privacy Act, SBC 2003, c. 63
Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector, CQLR, c. P-39.7

But, if you are like most people, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard about the base idea that holds these laws together. While being normal, this is a bit odd, because it’s that base idea that can help you understand generally how these laws will apply to all the different commercial or personal aspects of your life.

Most people usually think of online advertisements based on our usage data from companies like Google and Facebook when thinking about privacy law. And that’s because it is in fact a great example of when Privacy Law will apply, and when it can be breached…

Facebook to be fined $5B for Cambridge Analytica privacy violations
147 million people affected by the Equifax data breach

We use websites like Google or YouTube to search and watch videos, or Facebook to maintain social networks, and in turn these companies give us a “free user experience”. But what we all seem to be understanding on an increasing basis is that these companies are leveraging our data to sell to companies for hyper targeted advertising.

But did you know that these privacy laws apply to all of your personal information… not just your search history?

It’s not just internet companies that collect, hold, use, or share your personal information. In fact, most organizations do, in all types of settings. And this is a reality these laws are trying to deal with.

Put simply, privacy laws are trying to recognize the fact that organizations will have a reasonable need to collect, use, and disclose some of your information, and the law is trying to balance this fact with the right of the individual to have his or her personal information protected, and to have transparency as to that use in order to prevent unreasonable uses. Drilling down further, the key here is the “reasonable” standard. For example, a clinic will need your health card number… but it would be unreasonable for it to take your social insurance number.

Here it is in legalese

Canada – PIPEDA (S.C. 2000, c.5)
Part 1 - Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector
Section 3 - Purpose

The purpose of this Part is to establish, in an era in which technology increasingly facilitates the circulation and exchange of information, rules to govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in a manner that recognizes the right of privacy of individuals with respect to their personal information and the need of organizations to collect, use or disclose personal information for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances

Alberta - PIPA (S.A. 2003, c P 6.5)
Section 3 - Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by organizations in a manner that recognizes both the right of an individual to have his or her personal information protected and the need of organizations to collect, use or disclose personal information for purposes that are reasonable.

Come back for part 2 of this series on a discussion of “Consent” … it’s not as straightforward as you might assume.

How a TPA Increases Flexibility

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 23:04:19 Z

In previous articles we covered various third party administrator (TPA) topics including: what a TPA is, and how some TPAs can lower the cost of administration.

This article looks at how a TPA can streamline group benefits administration for your company while also giving your company the opportunity to offer best-in-class benefits to your employees.

Streamlined Admin

The most common way in which a TPA can increase flexibility is by offering a centralized, robust employee benefits administration system that consolidates the management of a number of benefit providers into one platform.

To understand the power of this offering, consider the following reality in the benefits administration world:

Employer admin departments typically spend the majority of their time working to keep up on day-to-day admin. In most cases, an employer will have a benefit plan supported by one insurance carrier. The employer will take on the administration of the plan, as described in the plan carrier’s long form technical administrative guide. Day-to-day administration of the plan, from enrollments, to coverage changes and terminations will be performed on the plan carrier’s admin system. This day to day admin will be a mix of paper-chasing, post-it note reminders, manual excel sheet updating, cross referencing the plan carrier’s technical guide, and data entry into the plan carrier’s admin system.

Insurance carriers cannot offer the best benefit product for each line of benefit. In the above scenario, some benefits provided by the plan carrier will be great, others not so much. The employer could look to another carrier for a specific benefit to improve the plan overall, but the admin team is already at capacity and adding a better benefit would mean doubling the admin team’s work, i.e. a second carrier admin system to learn and update, a second paper chase routine, and a second technical guide to learn and comply with. Adding a third carrier is likely impossible.

This is where TPAs can help. TPAs can improve flexibility by acting as a centralized administration and customer service hub for benefit packages made up of a mix of different carriers. From the company’s perspective, it gets access to more benefits without adding layers of work. Instead, the company is supported by the TPA, and the TPA’s administration services take care of the complexities in the background.

Best-in-class Benefits

To get best-in-class benefits, employers need to be free to choose the plan that suits them best. Employers need to be diligent when selecting a TPA not all multi-carrier plans guarantee freedom. In fact, a fixed TPA offering might as well be a carrier offering, even if there are several carriers supporting it because of the difference between the following types of multi-carrier plans:

Fixed Multi-Carrier - the same carriers always support the same benefits in the TPA’s offered plan. Yes it is multi carrier, but it is rigid. The employer does get the TPA benefit of streamlined administration, but does not get freedom to serve its employees in the best way possible.
Best-In-Class - a company knows what its employees’ needs are. A true best-in-class TPA offering allows the employer and its advisor to design a plan that works best for the company, and then go to market to get each carrier’s best offering for that plan. The outcome is that over time different carriers may offer different lines of benefit supporting the plan, all while the TPA manages these changes in the background as it provides the employer with consistent, streamlined administration.

Put simply, best-in-class means freedom to support your workforce with a dynamic benefits packages over time. It means the flexibility to make change without losing your administration system or the efficiencies of a TPA. It means being in control of your benefits plan, and your data.

Articles

Privacy Law: What’s the Big Idea?

Here it is in legalese

How a TPA Increases Flexibility

Streamlined Admin

Best-in-class Benefits

Further Reading