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Privacy Commissioner Finds Privacy Risks in Administrative Decisions
In her December 2008 Annual Report to Parliament, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada expressed concern over the disclosure of personal information on websites hosted by administrative and quasi-judicial bodies. These bodies are established by Parliament to consider issues such as denial of pension and employment insurance benefits, compliance with employment and professional standards, and allegations of regulatory violations. These decisions are typically made available on the Internet. The Commissioner found that many of the reported decisions of these bodies contain intimate details of people’s lives, including their financial status, health, job performance and personal history. She concluded that individuals whose personal information is contained in these decisions face a substantial risk of embarrassment, ridicule, identity theft, discrimination and harassment, and that the risk of having such information made public would deter people from asserting their rights.
The Commissioner acknowledged that making these decisions available on the Internet fulfilled the “open court” principle that public scrutiny of the decision-making process is necessary to promote its integrity and fairness. However, her position is that respect for the open court principle did not require the disclosure of the identity of the individuals involved in a given decision. The Commissioner therefore recommended several measures for administrative and quasi-judicial bodies to adopt, including that all decisions should be depersonalized, either through the use of randomly assigned initials in place of individuals’ names or by posting only a summary of the decision with no identifying personal information. The Commissioner stated that some administrative bodies were willing to adopt these recommendations, while others were reticent; given this inconsistency, she pointed to the necessity for a new government-wide policy on this privacy issue.
For additional information, visit:
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/ar/200708/200708_pa_e.asp#005