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All of CanadaUpdated April 2026

Social Media and Privacy

Your rights on social platforms, how Canadian law applies to US-based services, and what you can do about unwanted posts.

TL;DR

Social media companies doing business in Canada must comply with PIPEDA or applicable provincial private-sector law. The OPC has investigated Facebook, TikTok, and others. Canadians have rights to access their information and request correction or deletion in specific circumstances.

Canadian law applies to foreign platforms

Even if a social media company is headquartered abroad, PIPEDA applies when it does business in Canada and processes Canadians' personal information. Commissioners have repeatedly asserted jurisdiction.

Requesting information, correction, and removal

You can request access to the information a platform holds about you.

You can request correction of inaccurate information.

Platforms must offer deletion options where legally required. Quebec's Law 25 includes a right to de-indexing (removal of links) in specific circumstances.

Unwanted posts about you

If someone posts private information about you without consent, you may have a claim for intrusion upon seclusion or public disclosure of embarrassing private facts in provinces that recognize these torts.

Non-consensual intimate images have their own criminal and civil regime (see Criminal Code section 162.1 and provincial NCDI statutes).

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