Ronald D. Davis in Canadian Lawyer: Privacy Law at the Boiling Point

Publication: Canadian Lawyer | Date: September 29, 2026 | Article title: “Privacy law at the boiling point” | Format: Premium feature interview

Ronald D. Davis, Senior Counsel, Class Actions at Diamond and Diamond Lawyers, is the featured voice in a Canadian Lawyer premium feature on the state of privacy and data security law in Canada. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1984, Ron spoke with the publication about the legal gaps that leave people exposed after a data breach, the cases testing the limits of privacy protection, and why class actions remain one of the most effective ways to hold organizations accountable.

How big is Canada’s data breach problem?

The numbers are climbing fast. In its 2025-2026 annual report, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada reported almost 700 breach reports from businesses, affecting more than 20 million Canadians. Federal government institutions filed roughly 450 more, affecting over 48,000 people. Complaints under PIPEDA, Canada’s federal private-sector privacy law, more than doubled to 3,044, an increase of 109 per cent over the previous year.

Ron compared the shift to the boiling frog. Canadians have been sitting in the water for years while the heat slowly rose. Today, he told Canadian Lawyer, “the temperature is definitely at the boiling point.”

Where does Canadian privacy law fall short?

Ontario courts have recognized new privacy wrongs since 2012, starting with the tort of intrusion upon seclusion in Jones v. Tsige, 2012 ONCA 32. However, in a trilogy of decisions released on November 25, 2022, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that this tort does not reach organizations whose databases are breached by outside hackers. The lead case, Owsianik v. Equifax Canada Co., 2022 ONCA 813, was released alongside Obodo v. Trans Union of Canada, Inc. and Winder v. Marriott International, Inc. People whose information is exposed in a breach must instead rely on other claims, such as negligence or breach of contract.

Consider a retailer whose customer database is hacked and thousands of payment card numbers are stolen. The hacker may never be identified. Any claim then turns on what the retailer did, or failed to do, to protect that information.

Ron argued that Canadian courts have not yet had a defining moment for cyber breach liability, comparable to the role Donoghue v. Stevenson played in shaping the modern law of negligence. Until that moment arrives, he noted, the law will keep trailing the technology, and the people responsible for a breach will often be out of reach.

What is the BC political parties privacy case?

Ron is part of the team representing three complainants in British Columbia who asked Canada’s major federal political parties what personal information the parties held about them. In 2022, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia found that BC’s Personal Information Protection Act applies to federal political parties. The BC Supreme Court upheld that finding in Liberal Party of Canada v. The Complainants, 2024 BCSC 814, and the parties have appealed to the BC Court of Appeal.

Ron told Canadian Lawyer that whatever the outcome, the constitutional question at the heart of the case could reshape how privacy law and the division of powers interact across Canada.

Why do class actions matter for privacy rights?

Ron pointed to two goals: access to justice and behaviour modification. Few people can fund a lawsuit over a single data breach on their own, and a class action allows thousands of affected people to bring their claims together. It also creates a real consequence for organizations that treat data security as an afterthought, giving them a clear reason to raise their standards.

He also flagged artificial intelligence as a growing source of risk that existing privacy frameworks were not built to address.

Read the full feature at Canadian Lawyer.

Has your personal information been exposed in a data breach? The team of lawyers at Diamond and Diamond has experience handling class action claims across Canada. Call our 24/7 hotline at 1-800-567-HURT or visit our website to speak with someone now. We offer free consultations and case evaluations.