Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

A woman received the personal information of five strangers along with her daughter's tax documents from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). She attempted to return the information to the CRA through various channels but faced difficulties. The OPC launched a Commissioner-initiated investigation, which concluded that the CRA had breached the privacy rights of the individuals whose information was improperly disclosed. The CRA has since implemented remedial measures to improve its procedures for handling misdirected mail and facilitating breach reporting.

• Adequacy of CRA's procedures for handling misdirected personal information.
• Effectiveness of CRA's channels for the public to report privacy breaches.
• Timeliness and appropriateness of CRA's response to the breach.

This report details an investigation into the loss of a USB key containing the personal information of 5,045 Canada Pension Plan Disability appellants. The investigation found that both Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Justice Canada failed to adequately translate their privacy and security policies into practice, leading to weaknesses in physical, technological, administrative, and personnel controls. Both departments accepted nine recommendations to improve data protection, many of which were similar to those made in a previous investigation involving ESDC.

• Adequacy of physical, technological, administrative, and personnel security controls
• Failure to translate privacy and security policies into meaningful business practices
• Protection of sensitive personal information including SIN and medical details
• Custody and storage of portable electronic devices containing personal information

The Information Commissioner initiated an investigation into Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) regarding the processing of eight access to information requests made between July 2008 and January 2010. The investigation focused on potential interference in how these requests were handled. The Commissioner has reported her findings.

• Possibility of interference in the processing of access to information requests
• Timeliness and completeness of response by PWGSC

This report details an investigation into the loss of an external hard drive at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which contained the personal information of 583,000 Canada student loan borrowers and 250 employees. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) found that while ESDC had appropriate policies in place, there was a significant gap in their implementation, leading to inadequate physical, technical, administrative, and personnel security controls. Consequently, ESDC was found to be in contravention of sections 6(3), 7, and 8 of the Privacy Act. ESDC accepted all of the OPC's recommendations for improvement.

• Adequacy of physical security controls for storing personal information on portable media.
• Sufficiency of technical safeguards, such as encryption, for personal information on external hard drives.
• Effectiveness of administrative controls, including asset management and inventory of portable devices.
• Level of employee awareness and training regarding the risks associated with handling personal information on portable devices.