BC Private Investigator: B.C. PIPA: consent, investigations and public sources

All 13 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

1. How must a PI firm protect personal information in its files?

   1. By storing files in the investigator's car
   2. With reasonable security arrangements
   3. By emailing files to the client's friends
   4. By sharing copies with all staff

2. Which source is a prescribed publicly available source under the PIPA Regulation?

   1. A hacked database posted online
   2. A friend's private photo album
   3. A subject's unlisted phone records
   4. A published newspaper or magazine

3. What does a PI need before obtaining a subject's bank or tax records?

   1. A signed release and lawful authority
   2. A good reason written in the file
   3. The client's verbal approval
   4. A licence older than two years

4. A subject asks a PI firm what personal information it holds about them. What does PIPA generally require?

   1. Provide it only through the police
   2. Provide it only for a fee of $500
   3. Refuse, since PI files are always secret and belong only to the client
   4. Provide it and explain its use, with exceptions

5. When collecting information directly from a witness with their consent, what must the PI firm tell them?

   1. The purposes of the collection
   2. The subject's home address
   3. The fee charged to the client
   4. The client's full legal name

6. When may a published source NOT be used under the PIPA Regulation's public-source rule?

   1. When the publication charges a subscription
   2. When the subject has moved to another city
   3. When a court has banned publication of that information
   4. When the article was published more than five years before the search

7. When is a telephone directory listing a prescribed public source under the PIPA Regulation?

   1. Only when a court has approved its use
   2. When it is public and the subscriber could opt out
   3. Only when it includes a person's date of birth
   4. Only when the listing is less than a year old

8. Does B.C.'s PIPA apply to private investigation firms?

   1. Only for files involving children
   2. Yes, they are private organizations covered by PIPA
   3. No, PI firms are fully exempt from B.C. privacy law in all their work
   4. Only when they work for government

9. Information was used to make a decision directly affecting a person. How long must it be kept under PIPA?

   1. Until the person turns 65
   2. At least 30 days after the decision
   3. At least one year after the decision
   4. At least seven years after the decision

10. When may a PI firm collect personal information without consent for an investigation under PIPA?

    1. When asking would compromise the information and it is reasonable
    2. Whenever the subject has a criminal record
    3. Whenever the client has already paid a retainer in full for the investigation
    4. Whenever the information is older than a year

11. Under B.C.'s PIPA, what is personal information?

    1. Anything a company stores on paper
    2. Only medical and financial records
    3. Information about an identifiable individual
    4. Only information that has been marked as confidential by the person

12. Which matter fits PIPA's definition of an 'investigation'?

    1. Looking into a suspected breach of a contract
    2. Tracking an ex-partner's new friends
    3. Finding a celebrity's home address for a fan
    4. Checking a person's dating history for curiosity

13. A PI tricks a person into giving consent with false information about the purpose. Is the consent valid under PIPA?

    1. No, consent from deceptive practices is invalid
    2. Yes, if the person signed a form
    3. Yes, as long as the investigation itself had a lawful purpose
    4. Yes, if the client paid for the file