Definitions for each category of finding under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

In keeping with the ombudsman role of the Privacy Commissioner, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has been increasingly focusing its investigations efforts on resolving, or settling complaints to the satisfaction of all parties, without always issuing formal findings under PIPEDA.

Starting in January 2004, we introduced two new types of complaints dispositions: Settled during the course of the investigation and early resolution.

• Settled during the course of the investigation
  This disposition is used when the Office has helped negotiate a solution during the course of the investigation that satisfies all involved parties. The Commissioner does not issue a finding.
• Early resolution
  This new disposition is applied to situations where the issue is dealt with before a formal investigation is undertaken.
• Not well-founded:
  There is no evidence to lead the Commissioner to conclude that the complainant's rights under the Act have been contravened.
• Well-founded:
  The organization failed to respect a provision of the Act.
• Resolved:
  The allegations raised in the complaint were substantiated by the investigation, but the organization agreed to take corrective measures to rectify the problem, to the satisfaction of this Office.
• Well-founded and resolved:
  The Commissioner, being of the view at the conclusion of the investigation that the allegations were likely supported by the evidence, before making a finding made a recommendation to the organization for corrective action to remedy the situation, which the organization took or committed to take.
• Discontinued:
  Investigation is terminated before all the allegations have been fully investigated, for example when the complainant is no longer interested in pursuing the matter, or can no longer be located to provide additional information that is critical to reaching a conclusion.