Privacy working group meeting 3 – August 16, 2022

This discussion guide is provided to assist working group members in preparing for the meeting.
For questions or comments, please contact obbo@fin.gc.ca.

On this page:

• Discussion guide
• Outcomes

Discussion guide

Public disclosure

The products and services expected to be provided via open banking require rules on the public disclosure of terms and conditions, service agreements and other business communication products to protect consumers.

In analyzing privacy requirements, the Advisory Committee on Open Banking (the Committee) recommended rules to prohibit undue pressure on consumers, ensure that information provided to consumers is accurate, clear and not misleading, and require public disclosure regarding consumer complaints received. The Committee identified the Financial Consumer Protection Framework as a reference point for these rules. For context, the Financial Consumer Protection Framework is broader than public disclosure of information and encapsulates business practices for product offering, such as having a complaints handling process and mandatory public reporting.

From this perspective, the focus is to determine whether the Financial Consumer Protection Framework can provide a set of principle-based rules for disclosing information. As a starting point, these would include:

• Clear, simple and not misleading information (for example, provide examples or a checklist to highlight important pieces of information);
• Separate service agreements for each product or service (for example, an application that asks consumers to agree to new terms and conditions when using a different service or product);
• Use of information boxes to clarify agreements (for example, visually representing information for consumers); and,
• Disclosure of fees, penalties, complaints handling process and contact information for federal consumer organizations (for example, keeping pertinent consumer information front and center).

Note: While the materials for the first meeting described the outcomes for this session as the common rules on the process to publicly disclose consumer complaints, this topic will now be addressed in the Liability Working Group given the nature and progress of discussions to date. As such, this meeting will focus on broader disclosure requirements. 

Outcomes

Public disclosure

• There was consensus that the Financial Consumer Protection Framework principles can serve as a good baseline in the context of open banking.
• Participants also noted that privacy legislation should govern elements of the consent process and disclosure requirements.

• Participants discussed the degree of prescriptiveness required to fulfil the requirements of the principles. There were concerns that an overly prescriptive approach could stifle innovation whereas an overly principle-based model could lead to inconsistent application of the principles.
• There was consensus that guidelines accompanying the principles could address the concerns and ensure proper application. 

• There was consensus that public disclosure requirements should be agnostic to product or service and be based on use cases.

• There was consensus that existing legislation, such as the Competition Act’s provisions on false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices, can be used as a guide for promotional products.
• Participants also raised the importance of consumer education and the need for financial literacy.

Privacy working group attendees