Yukon's privacy laws are out of date, says watchdog

The Yukon Government is looking at possible amendments to the territory's privacy legislation and it's not a moment too soon, according to Privacy Commissioner Diane McLeod-McKay.

Over the summer, 124 Yukoners responded to a government questionnaire on the topic. It's part of the government's mandated review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. 

McLeod-McKay says the act is more than 20 years old, and some aspects of it are obsolete.

"It's really a paper-based model that really deals with how government services were delivered in 1995," she said.

She says there is now more integration in service delivery by the government, but the act doesn't always allow departments to share needed information.

'Really strong oversight'

At the same time, McLeod-McKay says there must be proper oversight and controls to ensure Yukoners' privacy is protected.

"We've had this privacy law in effect for 20 years, and [the] Yukon government is only now starting to develop privacy policies. So therefore, in order to be innovative, they need to really, I think, have really strong infrastructure and really strong oversight." 

Government spokesperson Alicia Debreceni said now that the first phase of public consultation is done the government will review the feedback. It will be included in a report to be published later this year, after which possible changes to the act will be developed.

Those potential amendments should be ready by next year when the public will again have a chance to weigh in, Debreceni said.

She also says the timeline could change depending on the outcome of the election this fall.