Glen McGregor reports that Canada’s privacy commissioner doesn’t want biometric data of Canadians accessible to U.S. authorities under the PATRIOT Act:
Canada’s privacy watchdog has gone to court to stop the collection and storage of fingerprints from students who apply to medical schools.
Privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart launched legal action in Federal Court last week, accusing the American Association of Medical Colleges of violating the Canadian law that governs electronic personal information.
The association administers the Medical College Admission Test on behalf of schools in the U.S. and Canada. It uses “biometric identity verification” to stop cheating on the tests.
Students who take the MCAT are digitally photographed and fingerprinted to confirm their identity when they enter the testing rooms. The association’s website says it retains the electronic data for 10 years.
Read more in the Montreal Gazette.