Volume II

Issue : 12: June 10, 2004

• Plaintiff Uses PIPEDA to Argue against the Admissibility of Video Surveillance
• RCMP Charges Mississauga Teen Spammer
• British Columbia Privacy Commissioner Launches Patriot Act Probe
• New Bill Enables Import and Online Purchases of Pharmaceutical Drugs
• RIAA Files 493 More Lawsuits against File Sharers
• New York Applies Telephone Regulation to VoIP
• Australian Court Sets Important Privacy Law Precedent
• CDRP Panellist Declines to Transfer .Ca Domain Name In default Case
• Ontario Court of Appeal Finds Online Defamation Warrants Increased Damages

Home > Volume II > Issue 12: June 10, 2004 > British Columbia Privacy Commissioner Launches Patriot Act Probe

British Columbia Privacy Commissioner Launches Patriot Act Probe

As part of a lawsuit filed by the B.C. Government and Services Employees' Union in an effort to stop privatization of the provincial Medical Services Plan, the Union asked the B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review of the Plan. One of the arguments made by the Union was that any administration of the B.C. MSP by either of the two American short listed companies (IBM and Maximus) would be a violation of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act among other laws. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requires the B.C. Government to protect the privacy of personal information provided by British Columbia residents to the government. The Union's allegation is that the FBI could under the U.S.A. Patriot Act secretly demand that the American corporations provide it with access to the MSP records [Full text of U.S. Patriot Act (pdf)]. These records include personal information about health treatment, pharmacy, income tax, mental health and criminal records, as well as from Ministries of Children, Family Development and Human Resources. Some commentators have suggested that even if the information is held by a Canadian subsidiary, the American parent company would be required to disclose it to the F.B.I. under section 215 of the Patriot Act [U.S. Justice Dept. background on Act].

To date, the B.C. Government's position, provided by Health Minister, Colin Hansen, has simply been that U.S. laws don't apply to Canadians on Canadian soil. However, on May 28, 2004, B.C. Privacy Commissioner, David Loukidelis, announced that he would examine the implications of the Patriot Act for British Columbians' personal information which is outsourced by the B.C. Government to U.S. linked service providers. The Privacy Commissioner requested public input by July 23, 2004 and anticipates publishing a report by August 13, 2004. The "Request for Submissions" can be found on his website. On May 31, 2004, Mr. Loukidelis announced that he was requesting U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft, and F.B.I. Chief, Robert Mueller, to contribute to the British Columbia study.

The City of Burnaby has asked that the Province cancel its plan to contract out the administration of the MSP Plan to American companies, and has also requested other municipalities across the Province to publicly oppose the B.C. Government's plan. In a related development, on June 3, 2004, the Hospital Employee's Union requested that the B.C. Privacy Commissioner include in his review a proposed Vancouver Coastal Health Authority plan to turn over hospital medical transcripts to one of two U.S. companies bidding to provide a web-based interface for medical transcription services that would put confidential patient records on U.S.-based servers.

Similar privacy concerns have recently led the Canadian federal government to break a contract already awarded to the Canadian subsidiary of Lockheed Martin for work on the 2006 census.

For more information, visit

http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=bc_privacy20040528