Commission's CASL decision on intermediary information production stays close to the vest

By Bram Abramson A RARE CRTC DECISION on the appeal of a “notice to produce”, compelling Hydro-Québec to produce the personal information associated with 10 service addresses, has shed further light on how the Commission will use the information-gathering powers of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) when dealing with intermediary service providers. Compliance and Enforcement Decision CRTC 2020-196, issued on June 18 against Hydro-Québec, echoes a similar 2016 decision in the Royal Bank of Canada’s appeal of a third-party notice to produce. The Hydro-Québec decision interprets the CRTC’s CASL information-gathering authority largely in terms of whether the information compelled by the...