2009-2010 Annual Report to Parliament on the Privacy Act

Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart today released her latest annual report on Canada's Privacy Act:

"In this report you will find summaries of two major privacy audits that spotlight the specific challenges of protecting personal information in the context of evolving information technologies. One turned up troubling deficiencies in the privacy policies and practices governing federal public servants' uses of BlackBerrys and other mobile communications devices. The other reveals that surplus computers and paper documents are often disposed of without adequate regard for the personal information they may hold."

"The report also highlights numerous investigations conducted under the Privacy Act, including one in which tax department employees had inappropriately accessed salary information of high-profile sports figures."

"Reviews of Privacy Impact Assessments performed by federal departments and agencies preparing to introduce new programs or services are also of increasing interest to the public. One Privacy Impact Assessment that garnered widespread attention related to the federal government's controversial rollout of 44 millimetre-wave full-body scanners at Canadian airports."

"This report also contains overviews of several major initiatives that preoccupied us over the past year, where national security demands encroached on the privacy rights of Canadians. Key among those were the massive security cordon surrounding the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games, the many new security measures affecting international travellers, and a series of legislative initiatives aimed at strengthening the hand of authorities using the Internet to combat terrorism and crime"