2013–14 Annual Reports on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act
Archived information
Archived information is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject à to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.
2. Report on the Privacy Act
2.1 Introduction
The Privacy Act provides Canadian citizens and permanent residents with the right of access to and correction of personal information about themselves that is under the control of a government institution. The Act also provides the legal framework for the collection, retention, use, disclosure, disposition and accuracy of personal information in the administration of programs and activities by government institutions subject to the Act.
Under the Privacy Act, personal information is defined as “information about an identifiable individual that is recorded in any form.” Examples include information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age or marital status of an individual; the education or the medical, criminal, financial or employment history of an individual; the address, fingerprints or blood type of an individual; and any identifying number, symbol or other particular identifier assigned to an individual.
This report has been prepared and tabled in Parliament in accordance with Section 72 of the Privacy Act. It covers the period from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014.
2.2 Mandate of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
As the administrative arm of the Treasury Board, the Treasury Board of Canada 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 provides advice and support to Treasury Board ministers in their role of ensuring value for money and 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, and is also responsible for the comptrollership function of the 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.
2.3 Organization
The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is part of the Ministerial Services Division of the Secretariat’s Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs Sector. The ATIP Office coordinates responses to ATIP requests and consultations from other government institutions for the Secretariat as a department. This office also provides advice to the Secretariat’s employees as they fulfill their obligations under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.
The ATIP Office has nine full-time positions to fulfill the Secretariat’s obligations under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The staff of the ATIP Office in 2013–14 consisted of eight employees: a Director and seven access to information officers at various levels. The officers’ work ranges from processing access to information requests to carrying out consultations with departments or third parties and responding to calls and informal requests for information.
2.4 Delegation Orders
Delegation orders set out what powers, duties and functions for the administration of the Privacy Act have been delegated by the head of the institution and to whom. The President of the Treasury Board has delegated most of the responsibilities of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act to the ATIP Director and the Senior Director, Ministerial Services, Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, within the Secretariat. The Secretary has been delegated responsibilities for addressing complaints not resolved between the ATIP Office and investigators from the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Copies of the approved Secretariat delegation orders can be found in Appendix C.
2.5 Statistical Report
Statistical reporting on the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act has been in place since 1983. The statistical reports prepared by government institutions provide aggregate data on the application of the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act legislation. This information is made public on an annual basis in an Info Source Bulletin and is included with the annual reports on access to information and privacy, which are tabled in Parliament by each institution.
The Secretariat’s 2013–14 statistical report on the Privacy Act is provided in Appendix B.
2.6 Interpretation of the Statistical Report for Requests Under the Privacy Act
During the reporting period (April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2014), the Secretariat received a total of 144 new requests under the Privacy Act. This represents an increase of 60 requests (71%) from last year’s total of 84. In addition to the new requests, a total of 3 requests were carried forward from 2012–13.
Of the 144 new requests, 104 (72%) were redirected to other federal institutions, as they were on subjects within their mandates.
In this reporting period, there was an increase in the number of pages reviewed over last year; responding to formal requests involved the review of 4,545 pages, of which 4,009 (88%) were released.
| Fiscal Year | Requests Received | Requests Completed | Number of Pages Processed | Number of Pages Released | On-Time Compliance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||
| 2013–14 | 144 | 139 | 4,545 | 4,009 | 100% See Table 4 footnote * |
| 2012–13 | 84 | 86 | 2,260 | 2,240 | 99% |
| 2011–12 | 119 | 118 | 4,759 | 4,617 | 98% |
Current and former federal public service employees are the primary requestors of information under the Privacy Act. Requests were related to an increase in personnel or staff-relations issues that required the Secretariat’s involvement, in particular with respect to the workforce reduction exercise.
2.7 Other Requests
During this same period, the Secretariat responded to 10 Privacy Act consultation requests from other departments involving Secretariat records or issues.
As in the previous years, the ATIP Office acted as a source of expertise for Secretariat officials, providing advice and guidance on the provisions of the legislation. It was consulted regularly on the disclosure and collection of data on a wide range of subjects, and provided advice to ensure transparency and compliance with the legislation. This included surveys, various information management issues, privacy impact assessments, privacy protocols, security of information, and privacy notices for various forms and questionnaires.
Throughout the year, the ATIP Office also received numerous telephone calls and emails from the general public seeking guidance on how to obtain information under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and where they should forward their requests. Many of these enquiries were redirected to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canada Border Services Agency, Citizenship Immigration Canada and, occasionally, to provincial Freedom of Information Offices.
2.8 Disposition of Completed Requests
In 2013–14, 139 requests were completed. The disposition of the completed requests was as shown in Table 5.
| Number of Requests See footnote Table 5 * | Disposition |
|---|---|
|
|
| 6 (4%) | Fully disclosed |
| 6 (4%) | Partially disclosed |
| 123 (88%) | No existing records |
| 4 (3%) | Withdrawn by applicant |
Because the President of the Treasury Board is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act government-wide, the Secretariat receives requests that fall within the mandates of other federal departments. Such requests are registered, reviewed and redirected to the appropriate organization. In Table 5, these requests are shown as “No existing records.”
2.9 Completion Time and Extensions
The legislation sets timelines for responding to the privacy requests and allows for extensions when responding to the request requires review of a large amount of information, extensive consultations with other organizations or for translation purposes. Table 6 presents the response times for the 139 requests that the Secretariat completed in 2013–14.
| Number of Requests | Disposition |
|---|---|
| 126 (91%) | Within 1 to 15 days |
| 7 (5%) | Within 16 to 30 days |
| 6 (4%) | Within 31 to 60 days |
| 0 (0%) | Within 61 to 120 days |
The Secretariat receives a large number of requests that fall under other departments’ mandates; these requests are completed within 1 to 15 days. Requests processed after the initial 30 days required consultations with other government departments.
Of the 139 requests, 139 (100%) were completed within the prescribed time limits, which includes all extensions which were taken in accordance with sub-paragraphs 15(a)(i) and (ii) of the Act. This represents a slight increase of 1% from last year (99%) in the Secretariat’s overall on-time responses. Several factors contributed to the Secretariat’s successful performance and on-time response rates. These include strong case file management, conducting information sessions with Secretariat officials and sector contacts, and the Secretariat’s streamlined delegation orders.
In 6 instances (4%), the Secretariat sought extensions to the prescribed time limits in order to consult with other government institutions.
2.10 Exemptions Invoked
The Privacy Act allows, and in some instances requires, that some personal information, such as information related to law enforcement investigations, information about other individuals or information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, be exempted and not released.
In 2013–14, the Secretariat invoked a total of 10 exemptions as per specific sections of the Privacy Act. The exemptions were as follows:
- Section 22.(1): Law enforcement and investigation (1)
- Section 26: Exempting personal information about individuals other than the requestor (6); and
- Section 27: Exempting personal information related to solicitor-client privilege (3).
2.11 Exclusions Invoked
The Privacy Act does not apply to information that is already publicly available, such as government publications and material in libraries and museums. It also excludes material such as Cabinet confidences.
In this reporting period, the Secretariat did not invoke any exclusions.
2.12 Costs
During 2013–14, the ATIP Office incurred $114,515 in salary costs to ensure appropriate implementation of the Privacy Act.
These costs do not include resources expended by the Secretariat’s program areas to meet the requirements of the Act.
2.13 Education and Training
During 2013–14, the ATIP Office continued to conduct training sessions for the Secretariat’s employees on a regular basis—13 sessions were provided to 228 staff. Some of these sessions were tailored to specific needs of divisional teams and sectors across the Secretariat.
2.14 Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives
To make the process of requesting government records simpler and more convenient, on April 9, 2013, the Government of Canada launched a pilot initiative that enables Canadians to submit their ATIP requests and fees online. Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Shared Services Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat were the participants in the pilot. The service has now been expanded to include 23 federal government institutions, making it easier to submit an access to information or privacy request across government. This initiative is part of the modernization of the administration of access to information, one of the commitments of Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government.
To ensure policy compliance and adherence to procedures for appropriate handling and preparation of responses to ATIP requests, the Secretariat’s ATIP Office disseminated a variety of tools and checklists, and held face-to-face meetings to share these tools with new staff and contacts. These tools and meetings were instrumental in ensuring that the Secretariat’s employees are aware of their roles and responsibilities related to ATIP requests.
2.15 Complaints, Investigations and Federal Court Cases
Clients of the Secretariat filed two new complaints with the Privacy Commissioner in 2013–14. The reasons for the new complaints were as follows:
- One complaint was for refusal to provide all documents; and
- One complaint was on the use and disclosure of personal information.
During this fiscal year, one complaint investigation was completed. Results were as follows:
One complaint was not well-founded.
All completed complaints dealt with formal responses to requests made under the Privacy Act.
There were no new court cases in 2013–14. There have been no new court cases against the Secretariat in relation to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act in the last six years.
2.16 Privacy Impact Assessments
Three Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) were completed in 2013-14.
The first PIA dealt with web analytics used by federal government institutions. Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement and reporting of web traffic and visitor behaviour in order to understand and optimize web usage. The PIA Report (Web Analytics Privacy Impact Assessment Report) made five recommendations to mitigate potential privacy risks associated with the use of Internet protocol addresses, and other digital marker information such as cookies, that are set on the user’s browser to track, for example, the number of visits and the unique visitors to one or more websites.
The second PIA was developed as a result of the pilot initiative that now enables Canadians to submit ATIP requests online. The PIA for the ATIP Online Request Pilot, which was launched on April 9, 2013, involved Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Shared Services Canada and the Secretariat. The PIA examined the data flow of the information through the system, from the point of collection by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to the point of reception of the information by the appropriate ATIP office of participating departments. The purpose of the PIA was to assess, reduce and mitigate potential risks associated with the collection of personal information over the Internet to enable the secure transfer of personal information to the appropriate department.
A third PIA, on the Executive Talent Management System (ETMS), was developed by the Secretariat. The ETMS is an online system housed on a secure server that integrates executive talent management and performance management data for the Government of Canada’s executive community. This new comprehensive online system supports both talent and performance processes, and facilitates complex analyses and reporting requirements. The purpose of the PIA was to identify the extent to which the ETMS complies with privacy principles and appropriate statutes.
2.17 Disclosures Under Paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act
Paragraph 8(2)(m) allows for the disclosure of personal information when the public interest clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy or when the disclosure would benefit the individual. There were no disclosures pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(m) for the 2013–14 period.
2.18 Information Holdings
Info Source is a series of publications containing information about and collected by the Government of Canada. The primary purpose of Info Source is to assist individuals in exercising their rights under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Info Source also supports the federal government’s commitment to facilitate access to information regarding its activities.
A description of the Secretariat’s functions, programs, activities and related information holdings can be found in Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information 2013. Info Source also provides private individuals and federal government employees (current and former) with the information required to access their personal information held by government institutions that are subject to the Privacy Act. The Secretariat does not have any exempt personal information banks.
Since the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act were enacted, technology and communications approaches have evolved. In order to improve service delivery and reduce reporting burdens on institutions, the Chief Information Officer Branch of the Secretariat undertook to transform Info Source: Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information from a static electronic document to a responsive web resource and to improve service to both the public and to ATIP professionals in federal departments. The ATIP Office of the Secretariat participated in the initial pilot to test a decentralized approach to publishing of Info Source. This initiative has made it easier to access government information, and it helped strengthen transparency to the public.
All Info Source publications are available online free of charge.
- Date modified: