Ontario Recognizes New Privacy Tort

  • February 18, 2020
  • Shalom Cumbo-Steinmetz, Lara Guest, Ronak Shah and Molly Reynolds, Torys LLP

In a landmark decision, Yenovkian v. Gulian, released December 19, 2019, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recognized the privacy tort of “publicity placing a person in a false light” for the first time in Canada1.

What you need to know

  • Ontario law now recognizes the privacy tort of “publicity placing a person in false light”.
  • This privacy tort goes beyond existing law on defamation. It protects an individual’s right to control how they are publicly presented to the world.
  • The new tort will be established where a person is portrayed in a false light publicly, and:
    • the false portrayal would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and
    • the wrongdoer knew the portrayal was false (or was reckless about its truth).
  • This decision has important implications for public marketing campaigns, media and content publishers, as well as public statements by companies. The new tort expands the scope of civil liability for privacy complaints. In addition to regulatory risk, businesses may now see increased litigation risk associated with privacy complaints.