Saskatchewan behind the times on access to information and privacy, commissioner says

Saskatchewan's Information and Privacy Commissioner Ron Kruzeniski says the province's laws on access to information and protection of privacy are outdated.

Kruzeniski released his annual report Monday and noted 35 areas where Saskatchewan's law, which dates to the early 1990s, could be improved.

"When you have older legislation and other provinces come along, they introduce improvements that make the system work better for all concerned," he said.

He noted that under the existing privacy legislation there is no provision to notify people when their confidential information is improperly or inadvertently released or viewed.

Kruzeniski said there should be mandatory reporting of privacy breach.

"If your information has been accidentally released you should be notified to take any corrective action that you'd want to take," he said.

According to Kruzeniski, his office is aware of 400 cases where private information has been not been kept private.

He added that in most cases people were deliberately snooping around in confidential files.

"I want the employee who is sorely tempted to look into his ex-wife's boyfriend file to realize if they do there will be a very serious offence and that behind the scenes there is a computer system that can track and alert others that in fact a snoop has occurred."