Yukon privacy commissioner sounds alarm over gov't review

A "catastrophic breach of citizens' privacy" could occur if the territorial government were to create a central database to hold all of its personal information on Yukoners, according to Yukon Information and Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod-McKay.

McLeod-McLay cited a review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act by employees in the government's highways and public works department, which administers the act.

The review suggests there is now inconsistent access and protection of privacy, because government departments cannot share information.

But McLeod-McKay says setting up a central database that all departments would have access to is not the answer.

"There's about, I think, a quarter of the population [government employees] that would have access to everybody else's information," she said.

"I think that's pretty significant, and when you compare that to a large jurisdiction, I think that is a really important reason to ensure you've got good privacy protections in place." 

'The barriers ... are, in fact, people's rights'

She noted the government's view is that the objective of the act is to protect citizens from harm. But she said the Supreme Court has ruled that citizens own their personal information, not the government, and they control what's done with it.

"The government report is trying to look at it from the perspective of how they could deliver services, and that's not unique to Yukon government,"  she said.

"We really just need to stop and say, what are the rights we're talking about here? The barriers that are often talked about are, in fact, people's rights."

She said Yukoners' privacy would also be more vulnerable to hacking if all personal information exists in a single database.

McLeod-McKay added, however, that some information can be shared between government departments, with proper rules in place.

"If you have basic contact information — what's my name, where do I live, what's my phone number, perhaps date of birth — I think that's reasonable. I think there's other things that are reasonable, I'm not saying that's the only thing that should happen," she said.

"I'm just saying there has to be some accountability built into the legislation to ensure that any sharing that occurs is documented and accessible to citizens, so citizens know what's happening with their personal information."