October 7, 2026
Why can’t a 22,000-unit landlord get privacy right?
Technologists for Democracy (TfD) stands with the residents of 105 Isabella Street in Toronto and with Javier Ruiz-Soler. His complaints have led the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to investigate and find that MetCap “is inappropriately collecting personal information from inside the tenants’ units.” The Commissioner also found that:
- MetCap failed to provide Ruiz-Soler with access to his own personal information,
- MetCap failed to provide contact information for their privacy officer, and
- MetCap’s public documents did not explain how video footage is managed.
Ruiz-Soler says his concerns went unaddressed for years.
MetCap’s VP of Operations, Michael Guyette, said the company “acknowledges the seriousness of the concerns raised and has taken steps to address them.” But if this is the case, after tenants raised their concerns with the building manager, why did it take a complaint to the federal regulator for MetCap to act?
The same issues have shown up at another MetCap building. In March 2026, one of TfD’s volunteers asked for their CCTV policy. MetCap replied that per their own policy, “camera footage is not allowed to be released to the tenants.” We then wrote to MetCap’s privacy office and received a draft policy that was “not yet finalized.” We raised concerns about operating cameras without a finalized policy, and with the draft itself. We did not receive any relevant answers. In our last correspondence with MetCap, they indicated that the building was no longer being managed by MetCap.
The policy now on MetCap’s website is essentially that same draft, and none of our points have been addressed. It provides no details on retention period, states nothing about audio, and does not specify where footage is stored. It also states that requested footage showing anyone other than the requesting resident “will not be provided.” The OPC guidance says otherwise: “Individuals have the right to access images relating to them. When disclosing recordings to individuals who appear in them, the organization must ensure that identifying information about any other individuals on the recording is not revealed. This can be done through technologies that mask identity.”
Tenants have a right to know what is being recorded, why it is being recorded, how long it is kept, where cameras are, and who sees it. A company of this size can afford to pay someone whose job is to know the basics of Canadian privacy law.
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