ARCHIVED - 2008-09 Annual Report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

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2. Report on the Privacy Act

Introduction

In its day-to-day operations, federal government departments and agencies collect personal information from almost all Canadians. The Privacy Act gives Canadian citizens and people present in Canada the right to have access to information about them that is held by the federal government. It also protects against unauthorized disclosure of that personal information. In addition, it strictly controls how the government will collect, use, store, disclose, and dispose of any personal information.

Overview of the Treasury Board and Its Secretariat

As the administrative arm of the Treasury Board, the Secretariat has a dual mandate: to support the Treasury Board as a committee of ministers and to fulfill the statutory responsibilities of a central government agency. It is headed by a Secretary, who reports to the President of the Treasury Board. 

The Secretariat is tasked with providing advice and support to Treasury Board ministers in their role of ensuring value-for-money as well as providing oversight of the financial management functions in departments and agencies.

The Secretariat makes recommendations and provides advice to the Treasury Board on policies, directives, regulations, and program expenditure proposals with respect to the management of the government's resources. Its responsibilities for the general management of the government affect initiatives, issues, and activities that cut across all policy sectors managed by federal departments and organizational entities (as reported in the Main Estimates). The Secretariat is also responsible for the comptrollership function of government.

Under the broad authority of sections 5 to 13 of the Financial Administration Act, the Secretariat supports the Treasury Board in its role as the general manager and employer of the public service.

Administration

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is located within Ministerial Services of the Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs Sector. The ATIP Office now has nine employees to fulfill the Secretariat's obligations under both legislations. On February 6, 2009, the Prime Minister of Canada announced changes to streamline and improve the management of human resources in the Public Service of Canada. The new human resources governance structure includes the creation of an Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO), housed within TBS. The new OCHRO, which was officially launched on March 2, 2009, encompasses the business and policy functions of the Canada Public Service Agency (CPSA) and the parts of TBS that deal with pension and benefits, labour relations and compensation. As a result of this transition, one resource was realigned with the ATIP Office. This Annual Report also includes the statistical reports for the former CPSA (Appendix C and Appendix D).

The ATIP Coordinator and the Senior Director, Ministerial Services, Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, have delegated authority to oversee the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act within the Secretariat and to ensure compliance with the legislation. Copies of the approved Secretariat Delegation Orders can be found at Appendix E.

Education and Training

During 2008–09, the ATIP Office continued to conduct training sessions for employees on a regular basis. Seventeen sessions provided over 247 participants with an overview of the acts and a better understanding of their obligations and the process within the Secretariat. Upon request, customized sessions were also given to divisional teams or individual branches or sectors.  Sessions were also given to ATIP sector contacts and members of the President's Office.

Information Holdings

A description of the classes of institutional records held by the Secretariat can be found in the following Info Source publications for 2008–09: Sources of Federal Government Information and Sources of Federal Employee Information. Info Source is a series of publications containing information about and/or collected by the Government of Canada. The primary purpose of Info Source is to assist individuals exercise their rights under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Info Source also supports the federal government's commitment to facilitating access to information regarding its activities.

Info Source can be accessed through public and academic libraries and constituency offices of federal members of Parliament as well as on the Internet at http://www.infosource.gc.ca
The Secretariat does not have any exempt banks

Reading Room

A reading room is available to individuals wanting to review Secretariat publications, call-ups for temporary help services, and other public materials. The room is situated in the departmental library and individuals can contact library personnel for use of the facility. The Secretariat library is located at:

Requests Under the Privacy Act

During the reporting period from April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, the Secretariat received a total of 51 new requests under the Privacy Act.This represents an increase of 14 requests (38 per cent) over last year, in which a total of 37 requests were received. Two requests were carried forward from 2007–08.

Of the 51 new requests, 18 (35 per cent) were either transferred or redirected to other federal institutions or could not be processed. A total of 33 requests were for Secretariat records.

The privacy client group for the Secretariat consists, for the most part, of current and former federal public service employees. Requests relate to personnel or staff relations issues that required Secretariat involvement.

There was a decrease in the number of pages reviewed over last year.  Responding to formal requests involved the page-by-page review of more than 2,609, over 2,410 of which were recommended for release.

Overview of Privacy Act Requests
Fiscal Year	Requests Received	Requests Completed	Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Released	On-time Compliance Rate
2008-2009	51	50	2,609	2,410	100%
2007-2008	37	36	3,347	1,837	100%

Other Requests

During this same period, the Secretariat responded to four Privacy Act consultation requests from other departments involving Secretariat records or issues.

The ATIP Office moreover acted as a resource for Secretariat officials and offered advice and guidance on the provisions of the legislation. The ATIP Office was consulted on issues relating to a range of matters, from polls, surveys, information management issues, privacy impact assessments, security of information, and privacy caveats, to the review of draft policies.

Disposition of Completed Requests

A total of 50 requests were completed in 2008–09. Three requests are carried forward to the 2009–10 fiscal year.

The disposition of the completed requests was as follows:

• 7 were fully disclosed (14 per cent);
• 9 were partially disclosed (18 per cent);
• 18 were transferred or redirected to another institution (36 per cent);
• 15 could not be processed (30 per cent); and
• 1 were abandoned by applicants (2 per cent).

Completion Time and Extensions

The 50 requests completed in 2008–09 were processed in the following time frames:

• 41 within 30 or fewer days (83 per cent);
• 8 within 31 to 60 days (14 per cent); and
• 1 within 61 to 120 days (3 per cent).

All 50 requests (100 per cent) were completed within the allowable time limits.

In 9 instances, the Secretariat found it necessary to seek an extension to the prescribed time limit to consult with other government institutions.

Exemptions Invoked

The Secretariat invoked exemptions 12 times, as follows:

• 1 time under section 21, exempting personal information expected to be injurious to the conduct of international affairs and the defence of Canada;
• 2 times under section 22, exempting personal information containing law enforcement and investigation information;
• 7 times under section 26, exempting personal information about individuals other than the requestor; and
• 2 times under section 27, exempting personal information related to solicitor-client privilege.

Exclusions Invoked

No exclusions were invoked under section 70 for confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. The Secretariat's responsibilities include providing administrative support to the Treasury Board, a Cabinet committee. The Secretariat consequently controls a large number of documents classified as Cabinet confidences.

Complaints, Investigations, and Federal Court Cases

Two new complaints were registered with the Privacy Commissioner in 2008–09. The reasons for these complaints were as follows:

• 2 concerned the exemption of information.

One complaint investigation was completed during the fiscal year, and the conclusion was as follows:

• 1 was determined to be not substantiated.

One complaint has been carried forward to 2009–10.

There were no new court cases for 2008-09.

Privacy Impact Assessments

To assist managers who are leading initiatives and projects that involve the collection of personal information, it is critical to determine whether a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is required. Those involved in such initiatives, and to ensure a consistent approach, the ATIP Office has developed this fiscal year a new tool to guide managers in the conduct of PIAs within the Secretariat. A key feature of the tool is a checklist which helps TBS project managers to determine if a PIA is required for an initiative and how to develop one. 

Four new Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) and two Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments (PPIA) were initiated for 2008–09. Two PPIAs have been completed and one was shared with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. This PPIA dealt with a proof of concept/feasibility study for a shared access card for Government of Canada facilities in the National Capital Region. Should the pilot be successful, a full PIA will be developed.

Data Matching and Sharing Activities

There were no data matching and sharing activities undertaken for 2008–09.

Disclosures Under Subsections 8(2)(e), (f), (g), and (m) of the Privacy Act

Subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act describes the circumstances under which personal information under the control of a government institution may be disclosed without the consent of the individual to whom the information pertains. Such disclosures are discretionary and are subject to any other Act of Parliament.

There were no disclosures pursuant to subsections 8(2)(e), (f), (g), or (m) for the 2008-09 period.

Costs

During 2008–09, the ATIP Office incurred an estimated $35,084 in salary costs and $4,786 in administrative costs to administer the Privacy Act.

These costs do not include the resources expended by the program areas of the Secretariat to meet the requirements of the acts.

Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

This report can be found at Appendix B.

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