The requirement that REALTORS® confirm identification also increases a REALTOR®'s responsibility under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The anti-money laundering legislation has now defined a new category of information which it deems "necessary" for the purposes identified.

The advice CREA has always given to REALTORS® is that they should be diligent in collecting only the information absolutely necessary for the transaction, based on the premise that the more information you collect, the greater your exposure in terms of adequately protecting it and ensuring there is no further unauthorized disclosure.

Principle 7 of PIPEDA and the Privacy Code requires REALTORS® to protect information with safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. Tools used to confirm identification - such as drivers licenses, health cards, or other government issued identification - are all sensitive and require the highest form of protection.

It is the responsibility of the REALTOR® to protect that personal information collected as part of the FINTRAC compliance process against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure or copying.