VANCOUVER—In a decision that has “delighted” B.C.’s privacy commissioner and anti-smoking advocates, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered a blow Friday to tobacco giant Philip Morris International as part of a 17-year court battle with British Columbia.

The province does not have to give the tobacco company access to detailed provincial health databases to help it mount a defence in a multibillion-dollar damages trial, Canada’s top court has ruled. The decision will have a countrywide ripple effect, as all 10 provinces have filed legal suits seeking a total of more than $120 billion to recoup smoking-related health-care expenditures from tobacco companies.

The top court rooted its unanimous decision on an interpretation of B.C.’s Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, which states that health records may not be disclosed.

Vancouver privacy lawyer Daniel Reid said “substantially identical” legislation exists in eight other provinces.

“It likely means that health information databases maintained by these provinces will similarly not have to be disclosed,” Reid said.

B.C.’s privacy commissioner called the decision “a victory for the privacy rights of British Columbians — and of all Canadians.”

“Our office was alarmed by the attempt by tobacco companies to get the data of particular citizens,” commissioner Michael McEvoy said in an interview with the Star.

The office of the privacy commissioner became an intervener in the case, largely because it was concerned that sharing data collected by the province’s ministry of health could put “incredibly sensitive” information at risk.

“I don’t think we can ignore the fact that this ruling, which protects the privacy of citizens, comes at a time when there is far greater awareness of privacy rights,” McEvoy said. “Think about Cambridge Analytica and Facebook and what can happen when databases go beyond what they were intended for.”

That’s something governments are going to have to consider increasingly as they collect and use data to make decisions, McEvoy said.

“Think about the sensitivity of data around who purchases and obtains cannabis,” McEvoy said. Although it will soon be legal in Canada, that won’t be the case in the U.S., which raises risks for Canadians while travelling there.

“This issue of privacy rights particularly as it pertains to health information I think is going to gain even more traction,” he said.

Friday’s Supreme Court decision doesn’t set parameters for how and when health data can be shared in other industries. Its scope is limited to the B.C. legislation that allowed the province to sue tobacco companies for health costs.

And it’s a blow for Philip Morris’s case.

“You’d ordinarily say you’ve got a right to understand the basis on which you’re being sued,” said David Fewer, director of the University of Ottawa public policy clinic focused on technology — another intervener in the case.

“Philip Morris is being deprived of the ability to have a fight,” over what the data means, he said.

Fewer called the decision, “pro-privacy,” but added there may have been remedies available to the court other than barring the tobacco company from accessing the data completely.

For example, the court may have ordered B.C. to release data that was more thoroughly anonymized than if names had simply been removed.

As it stands, the decision did not say much about what information should be provided to the tobacco company for fairness in compiling a defence. The legislation has some requirements, like providing “statistically significant” samples.

“Those who are looking to this decision for sweeping guidance, they’re going to leave disappointed,” Fewer said. “There’s still another shoe to drop.”

Rothmans Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris International’s affiliate in Canada, declined to do an interview. The company provided a statement that summarized the Supreme Court decision.

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Anti-smoking advocates who have been observing the years-long battle are pleased about the progress in the case.

“This is a classic tactic of the tobacco industry. They try to delay the case and stall and take a long time,” said Jack Boomer, director of the B.C. clean air coalition.

“A cigarette is the only product that will kill 50 per cent of its users if it’s used correctly,” Boomer said. “We’re delighted that this is progressing.”

With files from The Canadian Press

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