Background:

• The Privacy Commissioner of Canada filed an application under PIPEDA, alleging Facebook breached PIPEDA by sharing users’ personal information with third-party applications on its platform.
• The allegations followed an investigation into a complaint regarding the "thisisyourdigitallife" application, which obtained data from Facebook and disclosed it to Cambridge Analytica?.

Investigation and Report:

• On April 25, 2019, the Privacy Commissioner concluded that Facebook had breached PIPEDA, leading to the filing of this application on February 6, 2020?.

Facebook’s Defense:

• Facebook argued that the responsibility for the transfer of information by Dr. Kogan, associated with the "thisisyourdigitallife" app, lies with Dr. Kogan, not Facebook.
• Facebook claimed it was reasonable for them to rely on the Commissioner’s representations that its process was effective in obtaining meaningful consent?.

Issues Addressed:

• The primary focus was whether Facebook failed to obtain meaningful consent from users and whether it adequately safeguarded user information?.

Conclusion:

• The Commissioner did not successfully demonstrate that Facebook’s reliance on good faith and honest execution of its contractual agreements with third-party app developers was inadequate.
• It was concluded that the Commissioner had not met the burden of showing a breach of PIPEDA by Facebook in terms of meaningful consent and adequate safeguarding of user information?.