An “explosion” of potential violations added up to a bad year for privacy rights in Saskatchewan, the province’s information and privacy commissioner said Tuesday.
In his annual report, Gary Dickson called 2008-2009 “the year of the privacy breach in Saskatchewan.”
The commissioner’s office opened 62 privacy investigations in 2008-2009. In comparison, the office conducted only two investigations four years ago.
Dickson said in a news release that the situation was “serious and troubling” and noted the cases “undermine public confidence in our public institutions.”
Among the commissioners cases were 14 investigations into abandoned patient files; the City of Regina mistakenly sending personal information on 2,000 employees and citizens to a researcher; inappropriate sharing of personal health information by health professionals; and unsecured personnel and inmate records at a correctional centre.
Read more in The Vancouver Sun.
The Commissioner’s report does not seem to be available on the web at the time of this posting.