Victoria — The USA Patriot Act gives officials the power to see private information about Canadians despite attempts by governments in Canada to thwart probes by American authorities, a report released Friday by British Columbia's privacy commissioner says.
The long arm of the Patriot Act allows U.S. authorities to access the personal information of Canadians if it ends up in the United States or if it is held by U.S. companies in Canada, David Loukidelis concludes in his report.
The B.C. government passed a law this month aimed at preventing U.S. authorities from examining information about British Columbians held by private U.S. companies. It included fines ranging from $2,000 for individuals to $500,000 for corporations.
Mr. Loukidelis's report appears to confirm concerns of B.C. civil liberties groups and labour unions who fear the government's planned outsourcing of personal medical records to private U.S. companies could be viewed by the FBI and other U.S. agencies.
The 151-page report also concluded U.S. courts have the power to require American companies to produce records held in Canada by subsidiaries “because they have the legal or practical ability to obtain the records.”
The Patriot Act was enacted following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Section 215 of the act allows a special court to secretly issue an order requiring “the production of any tangible things” to the FBI.
It gives the U.S. government sweeping powers to review information banks of private and public businesses in an effort to hunt down terrorists
Mr. Loukidelis examined concerns that U.S. authorities such as the FBI might have access to B.C. residents' health information if the provincial government contracts out the billing of medical premiums to a company with a U.S. parent.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft were asked last May to contribute to the B.C. study.
“We have concluded that if information is located outside British Columbia, it will be subject to the law that applies where it is found, regardless of an outsourcing contract,” the report concludes.
“Therefore, if an outsourcing agreement calls for personal information to be sent to the United States, that information would be subject to the USA Patriot Act while in the United States.”
The B.C. legislation amended the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to, among other things, restrict storage and access of information outside Canada and included fines for those who improperly disclose private information.
Mr. Loukidelis said the best Canadian governments can do is mitigate the possibility that U.S. authorities will examine Canadian information.
He recommended overhauling the country's privacy laws to make it tougher to access the Canadian information.
The commissioner heard more than 500 submissions from unions and the provincial government, from private citizens and from U.S. authorities.
He said people feel they are losing control over what happens to their personal information and worry that their privacy rights are being overtaken by security concerns.
Many are also concerned that there is too much blurring of the lines between information used for domestic law enforcement, information used by governments who provide services and information used by governments investigating terrorism threats.
Outsourcing to U.S. companies by provincial governments is not unique to B.C., Loukidelis said.
Nova Scotia employs a U.S.-based company to manage provincial government databases, including social assistance, payroll and motor vehicle registration. Control of the data base remains in Canada.
Saskatchewan has outsourced some government services to U.S. companies, and Ontario has outsourced social assistance operations to a private company.
Even Statistics Canada has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin Canada – which has a U.S. parent – to develop the hardware and software to process census forms, Mr. Loukidelis said. All the census data, however, will be handled by Statistics Canada.
CIBC credit-card holders in Canada sign an agreement acknowledging that their information could be viewed by U.S. authorities, the report said.
In Pictures:
