Canadian Privacy Commissioner Rules Against Airline Over Cookies

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

23 June 2003

Canada's Privacy Commissioner last week released the summary of a case heard earlier this year, in which an airline's website was found to be in violation of Canadian privacy legislation for refusing to allow an internet user whose browser had been set to disable cookies to enter.

The Privacy Commissioner revealed that the individual had made two allegations against the company. The first was that it had denied him access to its web site because his browser was configured to disable cookies, and the second was that the company collects personal information from its web site visitors without their knowledge and consent by placing a cookie on their computers’ hard drives.

This first came to light when the internet user was refused access to the site because he would not permit a permanent cookie specifying the language in which he would like to access the site in future to be stored on his hard drive.

The airline took steps to rectify this, calling it an 'application glitch', but the individual still found himself unable to enter the site, leaving the firm in contravention of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which states that:

'An organization shall not, as a condition of the supply of a product or service, require an individual to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of information beyond that required to fulfil the explicitly specified and legitimate purposes.'

The Commissioner duly found that both counts of the complaint were well founded, but welcomed the news that the airline company in question had taken steps to address the issue, and was planning to create a policy to cover the use of cookies on its website.

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