Expert: Mark C. Robins - 6/19/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

Thanks very much for taking the time to read over my question. This is something that is extremely important to me, so forgive me if I come across as long-winded.

I'm a 19 year old male living in Ontario, Canada. Recently an issue has come up about the rent I pay to live at home with my parents, as my work managed to forget to send me a pay cheque. Sadly, my parents believe that I'm hiding the money because I don't want to pay my rent, and my dad has told me that he's going to go into my workplace and find out if I was paid or not, and how much money I made.

This bothers me because I feel that it is an invasion of my privacy for my father to obtain said information. I'm curious, is it legal for him to do this? If not, what would I tell him in order to discourage him from looking through my business? The name of a law and its wording would be ideal if at all possible.

Again, thank you very much for your time, and I hope that this isn't too much of a bother.

Have a good one,

Jak

ANSWER: I can assure you that under the Federal Privacy Act
this information cannot be provided.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I apologize for asking for such specifics, but I'm unable to locate the section that explicitly states (or even hints) that my father looking into my financial information would be against the law or whatever it'd be called. Where under the Federal Privacy Act (that is, which section, or what have you) does it state that my dad won't be able to access my information?

Answer
The act is not specific to Family members , the fact is you are an adult and no one has the right to access your personal information without license.
IE: banks , Lenders Rev Can etc.
Your employer should know this and will not release this type of info without your written consent or they would be liable to civil actions.