How does my service provider decide whether I can make decisions about my personal information?

The law generally presumes that you are capable of making decisions about your personal information, unless your service provider has reasonable grounds to believe that you are not.

Your service provider is responsible for deciding whether you are capable of making these kinds of decisions in specific cases. In doing so, they must assess whether you understand the information needed to make decisions about your personal information, as well as the consequences of these decisions. For example, it would be reasonable for a service provider to decide that a three-year-old child is not capable of giving consent for decisions about their personal information. Learn more about how your service provider decides if you are capable of making decisions about your personal information.

Note that you might be considered capable of making decisions about your personal information at one time, but incapable at another time. For example, a traumatic event or a new medication might temporarily affect your capacity to give, withhold, or withdraw your consent. You might also be considered capable of providing consent for some parts of your personal information, but not for others, depending on the situation.