Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner investigated a complaint where the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) disclosed a workplace review report containing an individual's personal information to the Information Commissioner. The OPC found that while disclosing information related to the complainant's access to information requests was a consistent use, disclosing the workplace review report was not. The CBSA contravened the Privacy Act by disclosing this report without consent and for a purpose inconsistent with its original collection.

• Whether disclosing a workplace review report to the Information Commissioner constituted a 'consistent use' under paragraph 8(2)(a) of the Privacy Act.
• The distinction between information collected for managing workplace conflict versus information collected for responding to access to information requests.
• Whether the CBSA reasonably expected the disclosure of the workplace review report.