Partner at Heenan Blaikie, Adam Kardash focuses his practice almost exclusively on privacy and information management law. He is the head of Heenan Blaikie’s National Privacy and Information Management group, and a member of the firm’s Marketing and Advertising and Intellectual Property groups. Adam is also a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee.
Adam is also Managing Director and Head of AccessPrivacy an innovative, integrated privacy, compliance and information governance consulting service that was launched in 2009 and is complimentary to Heenan Blaikie national privacy practice.
Adam has extensive experience in the privacy law area, and regularly advises on a broad range of data protection issues and privacy compliance initiatives. He assists in-house counsel and Chief Privacy Officers of organizations in the private, health and not-for-profit sectors on conducting privacy impact assessments and privacy and security reviews/audits; drafting privacy policies, practises and procedures; undertaking privacy compliance initiatives; managing security breaches; representing organizations on privacy regulatory investigations, and the drafting and negotiation of service provider arrangements involving personal information, including transborder data flows.
Adam has also worked on a wide variety of transactions involving information technology, including technology acquisitions, licensing, outsourcing and service provider arrangements, and general corporate commercial issues with respect to carrying on business over the Internet and in the electronic environment.
Adam and Priscilla Platt co-authored and launched Heenan Blaikie’s electronic guide to Ontario’s public sector access and privacy legislation in April 2007. The guide, AccessPrivacy.ca, is an innovative tool to assist institutions and the public to understand the developments of the law in these areas. The electronic guide was recently expanded to include Federal access to information law matters.
Adam is Chair of the Privacy Section of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA), a member of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Privacy Section and served three years on the executive of the OBA’s Electronic Commerce and Information Technology section. He speaks regularly on issues pertaining to Information Technology and Privacy, and for three years taught an MBA course at York University’s Schulich School of Business on legal issues relating to electronic commerce.
Adam has been with the firm since 1989.
Education LL.B., York University (Osgoode Hall Law School), 1992 B.A. (Honours), York University, 1988
Author, “Protection of Trade Secrets in Canada”, presented at Global Trade Secrets Protection and Drafting Global Policies, American Bar Association Section of Labor & Employment Law International Labor & Employment Law Committee Midyear Meeting, May 15, 2012.
Panelist, “Workplace Technologies and Implications for Financial Services Industry, American Bar Association Section of Labour & Employment Law”, National Symposium on Technology in Labour and Employment Law, New York, April 26, 2012.
Speaker, “Best Practices in Global Privacy Compliance”, Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 2012 World Summit, Montreal, April 14, 2012.
Co-Author, "Social Networking & the Global Workforce - Canada" in William L. Keller & Timothy J. Darby, eds., International Labor and Employment Laws, 3rd ed. Vol. 1A and 1B (Arlington: BNA Books, 2011).
Co-Author, “Exploring the Meaning of “Real Risk of Significant Harm” - 2011 Report on the AccessPrivacy Breach Notification Workshops”, published November 15, 2011.
Speaker, “Canada’s New Anti-Spam Law & Amendments to Current Federal Privacy Legislation”, Canadian Society of Association Executives Legislation Day 2011, Heenan Blaikie, Toronto, November 10, 2011.
Moderator, “Privacy Protection Agency Expectations for Comprehensive Programs”, 33rd International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, Mexico City, November 2, 2011.
Speaker, “Privacy Law and the Charity or NPO”, Osgoode Professional Development CLE – Legal and Risk Management Charities and Not-for-Profit Organizations, Osgoode Hall, Toronto, October 6, 2011.
Speaker, “Exploring the Canada’s New Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) Hassle”, Council of Chief Privacy Officers, Conference Board of Canada, Toronto, October 4, 2011.
Speaker, “Social Media in the Global Workplace”, Global Workplace Compliance Network Webinar, September 28, 2011.
Co-Panelist, “Breach Notification Workshop”, AccessPrivacy CPO Forum, Toronto, September 27, 2011.
Speaker, “Key Recent Legal Decisions and Trends in Privacy Law”, Canadian Institute’s Forum on Privacy Law & Compliance, Toronto, September 21, 2011.
Speaker, “Social Media Privacy Issues”, IT Law Spring Forum, Toronto, June 6, 2011.
Speaker, “Canada’s New Anti-Spam Legislation”, Retail Council of Canada, Toronto, May 17, 2011.
Speaker, “The Internet of Things”, IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium 2011, International Associations of Privacy Professionals, Toronto, May, 6, 2011.
Speaker, “Canada’s New Anti-Spam Legislation”, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Associations Inc., 2011 Compliance and Consumer Complaints Annual Conference, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, May 4, 2011.
Speaker, “An Inside Look at Security Incidents”, Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Toronto, March 29, 2011.