Urgent Update On Alberta Health Info Act Action

There is currently a great deal of activity going on across the country with respect to the issue of the USA PATRIOT Act and implications for personal information of Canadians held by American companies or affiliates of American companies. The issue first surfaced in British Columbia with British Columbia's Information and Privacy Commissioner conducting an investigation into the dimensions of the issue. Like most of the other Commissioners in Canada, I am following Mr. Loukidelis' progress with great interest. The Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada, myself included, have been consulted by Mr. Loukidelis and we have given him our input in terms of what issues we think his investigation should address and what the concerns are for us in our respective jurisdictions. Of course, we are awaiting the release of his findings with great interest.

I am not sure that I could add anything to Mr. Loukidelis' undertaking by conducting an identical investigation here in Alberta. I would speculate that the issues are very much the same in every province in Canada. I suspect that, Mr. Loukidelis having been the first Commissioner to undertake such an investigation, he will have the benefit of the best submissions from a number of organizations. If I were to try to duplicate his efforts, I would get fewer and possibly less detailed submissions than he has received or I would get the same submissions. The other factors which must be considered are costs and time. Commissioner Loukidelis received $75,000 from the British Columbia Government to conduct his review. That amount was in addition to his yearly budget. His review and issuance of a final report is expected to be completed by the end of September, 2004. He found it necessary to extend the time for completion because he received over 500 submissions in response to his request for public submissions.

Therefore, what I proposed to do is to continue to be in touch with Mr. Loukidelis, monitoring the progress in his investigation. When his report is released, I will review it closely, and my office will analyze it with an eye to determining its applicability to the situation in Alberta, namely, what the risks are with respect to the personal information of Albertans, and what remedies there might be. I will issue a formal statement of our findings in that regard.

Frank Work, Q.C.
Information and Privacy Commissioner
September 2004

Press Release:

For Immediate Release
September 27, 2004

Vive le Canada.ca Raises Alberta Health Privacy Concerns

Edmonton--A popular web-based organization is calling for the Privacy Commissioner of Alberta to investigate whether the Alberta Health Information Act can fully protect the health information of Albertans. Vive le Canada.ca is concerned that the information gathered by U.S.-linked health service providers could be obtained by U.S intelligence agencies under the USA PATRIOT Act, and is supporting calls by an NDP Opposition the Privacy Commissioner investigate that possibility.

The USA PATRIOT Act was enacted after the terrorist attacks of September 11. Any U.S. person, business, or organization can be forced to disclose information, including large databases of information, to U.S. intelligence agencies based simply on the suspicion of some link to "terrorism". Although the Act can't be applied to Canadian-owned corporations, a Canadian affiliate of a U.S. corporation could be served with the Act. Some Alberta public services, such as certain genetic tests, are outsourced to U.S-linked service providers, meaning that they too could potentially fall under the jurisdiction of the USA PATRIOT Act.

"It's very difficult to know whether our privacy would be protected in a case where the jurisdiction of Alberta privacy legislation and the jurisdiction of U.S. antiterrorism legislation collided," said Susan Thompson, founder of Vive le Canada.ca.

"That means our health information could end up in U.S. hands. We raised the exact same concern in our national campaign to boycott testing of the next Canadian census. In that case our information was being outsourced to U.S.-based defence contractor Lockheed Martin. Most Canadians were outraged that their information could go to an American company and possibly U.S. intelligence agencies under the PATRIOT Act. Albertans should be just as concerned."

The issue has already been raised in B.C, where on May 28, 2004 the B.C. privacy commissioner announced that he will examine the implications of the U.S. PATRIOT Act for British Columbian's personal information when that information is gathered by U.S.-linked service providers due to the outsourcing of public services. The Alberta privacy commissioner has said that he is waiting for the BC report, and an Alberta investigation is not necessary. However, Vive le Canada.ca learned last week that the BC report will not appear until after Alberta's Health Information Act Review Committee has finished its work.

In Alberta, NDP Opposition MLA Raj Pannu, a member of the Select Special Health Information Act Review Committee, has suggested that the committee request the Information and Privacy Commissioner to undertake an investigation prior to the committee's final report. Vive le Canada.ca is calling on its Alberta members to send emails in support of Pannu's proposal to the chair of the committee and the privacy commissioner.

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Contact:

Susan Thompson
http://www.vivelecanada.ca
email: susan.thompson@vivelecanada.ca
(780) 624-5229

Shannon Phillips
Communications Officer
NDP Opposition
t. 780.916.3937
f. 780.415.0701
shannon.phillips@assembly.ab.ca
#501, Legislature Annex
9718 - 107 St
Edmonton, AB
T5K 1E5

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