Evrythng
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
"Year of the Privacy Breach in SK" @ 10:47 AM
From today's Star Phoenix:
An “explosion” of potential violations added up to a bad year for privacy rights in Saskatchewan, the province’s information and privacy commissioner said Tuesday.
In his annual report, Gary Dickson called 2008-2009 “the year of the privacy breach in Saskatchewan.”
The commissioner’s office opened 62 privacy investigations in 2008-2009. In comparison, the office conducted only two investigations four years ago.
Dickson said in a news release that the situation was “serious and troubling” and noted the cases “undermine public confidence in our public institutions.”
Among the commissioners cases were 14 investigations into abandoned patient files; the City of Regina mistakenly sending personal information on 2,000 employees and citizens to a researcher; inappropriate sharing of personal health information by health professionals; and unsecured personnel and inmate records at a correctional centre.
Dickson did note that his office oversees 3,000 organizations and that many cases are self-reported by the institution.
But many organizations lack a clearly-defined privacy policy, he said, and there is a “gaping hole” in provincial legislation because there is no provision requiring a public body to take reasonable steps to safeguard personal information.
The commissioner said Saskatchewan is an anomaly in that local police services are not covered by access to information and protection of privacy legislation.
That is a significant oversight since such legislation “is an important feature in ensuring that police services meet high standards of accountability and transparency to ensure high levels of public trust.”
Dickson also noted that unlike British Columbia and Alberta, private sector employees are “essentially unprotected when it comes to abuse of their information privacy rights” and the government should move to change that.
He also urged the government to change the practice of the Workers Compensation Board where it denies applicants access to their own personal information.
The privacy commissioner is an independent officer of the legislature. The Saskatchewan Party government is expected to respond Tuesday.
Labels: commissioner, dickson, investigation, privacy, saskatchewan
