Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Privacy Act 2018-2019

1. INTRODUCTION

The Privacy Act (Act) provides individuals with a right of access to their personal information and protects the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information under the control of government institutions.

This Annual Report was prepared in accordance with section 72 of the Act, which stipulates that annual reports on privacy shall be tabled in Parliament.

2. ABOUT THE CIVILIAN REVIEW AND COMPLAINTS COMMISSION FOR THE ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (CRCC) operates pursuant to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. R‑10. The CRCC provides civilian review of RCMP members’ conduct in performing their policing duties so as to hold the RCMP accountable to the public.

The CRCC’s main role is to take public complaints about members of the RCMP. These complaints are then forwarded to the RCMP for initial investigation as mandated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act; however, if the complainant is dissatisfied with the response that he or she receives from the RCMP, the CRCC will review the complaint with a view to determining the reasonableness of the RCMP’s response. In appropriate cases, the CRCC will undertake its own investigation or hearing into a complaint. The Chairperson of the CRCC also has the power to file his or her own complaint if he or she feels that a matter is deserving of investigation.

Additionally, even in the absence of a public complaint, the CRCC is empowered to conduct a review of RCMP activities to evaluate compliance with legislation, regulations, ministerial directions, policy, procedures and/or guidelines.

3. ATIP RESPONSIBILITIES

At the CRCC, the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Unit consists solely of the ATIP Coordinator. The ATIP Coordinator processes all requests from the public and consultations from other departments or agencies. The ATIP Coordinator also provides advice to CRCC employees and senior officials on ATIP-related matters, prepares annual statistical reports, ensures the ongoing accuracy of Info Source, prepares completed Access to Information summaries for proactive disclosure on the CRCC’s website, participates in forums for the ATIP community and monitors changes in ATIP policy, guidelines and directives.

When processing requests and consultations under the Access to Information and Privacy Acts, the ATIP Coordinator also benefits from some administrative assistance from personnel in the Information Management Unit of the CRCC.

The CRCC Chairperson, under delegated authority from the Minister of Public Safety, provides the final approval for all responses on ATIP requests and consultations.

4. DELEGATION ORDER

The Minister of Public Safety has delegated full authority under the Act to the CRCC Chairperson and Senior Director, Operations. The Minister has also delegated administrative duties and functions to the CRCC ATIP Coordinator. The most recent delegation order was signed by the Minister of Public Safety on July 4, 2016 (see Annex A).

5. PRIVACY REQUESTS RECEIVED

During the course of the reporting period, twenty-seven (27) new requests for personal information under the Act were received. One request was carried over from the previous year. Of those twenty-eight (28), twenty-one (21) requests were processed during that period and seven (7) were carried forward into 2019-2020.

Eleven (11) of the requests for personal information that were processed during 2018-2019 were from individuals seeking their personal information from public complaints or other files held by the CRCC. The other ten (10) were from individuals who erroneously applied to the CRCC to obtain law enforcement information from the RCMP or other institutions.

6. STATISTICAL REPORT

The twenty-seven (27) Privacy requests received by the CRCC in 2018-2019 represent a considerable increase over the number of Privacy requests received in recent years:

2018-19 27
2017-18 11
2016-17 9
2015-16 7

Of the twenty-one (21) requests processed during the reporting period, one (1) was released without redaction and nine (9) were released with exemptions claimed under paragraph 19(1)(c) (Provincial government information), sub-paragraph 22(1)(a)(i) (Information obtained by an investigative body), paragraph 22(1)(b) (Information the disclosure of which could be injurious to lawful investigations), section 25 (Safety of individuals), section 26 (Personal information of a third party), and section 27 (Solicitor-client privilege) of the Privacy Act. In the other eleven (11) requests, no records were found to exist.

External consultation was required for seven (7) requests.

The statutory deadlines were not met for six (6) requests (three were due to external consultation, while the other three were due to workload). Therefore, fifteen (15) of the twenty-one (21) requests processed (71%) were responded to within the established timelines.

The total number of pages processed for the ten (10) requests where information was found to exist was 5,625 pages.

During the reporting period, the CRCC received two (2) requests for correction of personal information. The CRCC refused the corrections and attached notations to the records.

Three (3) consultations were received from other Government of Canada institutions during the reporting period. These consultations all related to documents having to do with public complaints against RCMP members. All three consultations were closed during the reporting period, resulting in 44 pages processed.

See Annex B for the Statistical Report.

7. TRAINING

During the reporting period, CRCC employees participated in a group session that highlighted Offices of Primary Interest’s responsibilities relating to access to information and privacy.

8. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

During the reporting period, the CRCC began using the ATIP Online Request Service (AORS). This service provides Canadians with a convenient way to submit their Privacy requests electronically. Since joining the AORS service, the CRCC has noticed a marked increase of Privacy requests from individuals who erroneously applied to the CRCC to obtain law enforcement information from the RCMP or other institutions.

9. MONITORING OF TIMELINESS

The CRCC monitors the time to process Privacy requests through its case management software. The ATIP Coordinator keeps track of upcoming deadlines for requests and consultations. Reminders of approaching deadlines are provided to senior management at least once a month. The ATIP Coordinator meets regularly with the CRCC Chairperson and Legal Counsel to discuss various issues pertaining to in-progress ATIP files.

10. PRIVACY IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

The CRCC has one privacy impact assessment in progress. Once it is finalized, the CRCC plans to submit it to Treasury Board and the Privacy Commissioner.

11. PRIVACY BREACHES

There were no material privacy breaches at the CRCC during the reporting period.

12. DISCLOSURES MADE PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 8(2)(m) OF THE PRIVACY ACT

There were no disclosures made under paragraph 8(2)(m) during the reporting period.

13. COMPLAINTS

There were four (4) complaints filed against the CRCC during the reporting period, all by the same requester. One complaint involved a time extension due to the large volume of records pertinent to a request. Once the response package was sent to the requester, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner determined that the complaint was “well-founded, resolved.” The other three (3) complaints were still under investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on March 31, 2019 (i.e. two involved refusals to make corrections and one related to exemptions applied by the CRCC). Four (4) complaints that were filed against the CRCC during the previous period by the same requester (i.e. two involved refusals to make corrections and two related to exemptions applied by the CRCC) were also still under investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on March 31, 2019.

There were no audits or other investigations conducted during the reporting period.

Appendix A: Delegation Order

The Minister of Public Safety Canada, pursuant to section 73 of the Privacy Act*, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out below, or acting in those positions, to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Minister as the head of a government institution, that is, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, under the section of the Act set out opposite each position.

Delegation Order – *Privacy Act*
Section		Chairperson	Senior Director, Operations	ATIP Coordinator
8(2)(j)	Disclosure for research purposes	●	●
8(2)(m)	Disclosure in the public interest or in the interest of the individual	●	●
8(4)	Copies of requests under 8(2)(e) to be retained	●	●	●
8(5)	Notice of disclosure under 8(2)(m)	●	●
9(1)	Record of disclosures to be retained	●	●
9(4)	Consistent uses	●	●
10	Personal information to be included in personal information banks	●	●
14	Notice when access requested	●	●	●
15	Extension of time limits	●	●	●
17(2)(b)	Language of access	●	●	●
17(3)(b)	Access to personal information in alternative format	●	●	●
18(2)	Exemption (exempt bank) – Disclosure may be refused	●	●
19(1)	Exemption – Personal information obtained in confidence	●	●
19(2)	Exemption – Where authorized to disclose	●	●
20	Exemption – Federal-provincial affairs	●	●
21	Exemption – International affairs and defence	●	●
22	Exemption – Law enforcement and investigations	●	●
22.3	Exemption – Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act	●	●
23	Exemption – Security clearances	●	●
24	Exemption – Individuals sentenced for an offence	●	●
25	Exemption – Safety of individuals	●	●
26	Exemption – Information about another individual	●	●
27	Exemption – Solicitor-client privilege	●	●
28	Exemption – Medical record	●	●
31	Notice of intention to investigate	●	●	●
33(2)	Right to make representation	●	●	●
35(1)	Findings and recommendations of Privacy Commissioner (complaints)	●	●	●
35(4)	Access to be given	●	●	●
36(3)	Report of findings and recommendations (exempt banks)	●	●	●
37(3)	Report of findings and recommendations (compliance review)	●	●	●
51(2)(b)	Special rules for hearings	●	●
51(3)	Ex parte representations	●	●
72(1)	Annual report to Parliament	●	●

Delegation Order – *Privacy Regulations*
Section		Chairperson	Senior Director, Operations	ATIP Coordinator
7	Retention for 2 years	●	●	●
9	Reasonable facilities and time provided to examine personal information	●	●	●
11(2)	Notification that correction to personal information has been made	●	●	●
11(4)	Notification that correction to personal information has been refused	●	●	●
13(1)	Disclosure of personal information relating to physical or mental health may be made to a qualified medical practitioner or psychologist for an opinion on whether to release information to the requestor	●	●	●
14	Disclosure of personal information relating to physical or mental health may be made to a requestor in the presence of a qualified medical practitioner or psychologist	●	●	●

Dated, at the City of Ottawa, 4th of July 2016.

Signed by the Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety Canada

Appendix B: Statistical Report

Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2019-03-31

Part 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	27
Outstanding from previous reporting period	1
Total	28
Closed during reporting period	21
Carried over to next reporting period	7

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of Requests	Completion Time
Disposition of Requests	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
All disclosed	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Disclosed in part	0	1	2	5	1	0	0	9
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	6	5	0	0	0	0	0	11
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	6	7	2	5	1	0	0	21

2.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests
18(2)	0	22(1)(a)(i)	1	23(a)	0
19(1)(a)	0	22(1)(a)(ii)	0	23(b)	0
19(1)(b)	0	22(1)(a)(iii)	0	24(a)	0
19(1)(c)	1	22(1)(b)	1	24(b)	0
19(1)(d)	0	22(1)(c)	0	25	4
19(1)(e)	0	22(2)	0	26	8
19(1)(f)	0	22.1	0	27	3
20	0	22.2	0	28	0
21	0	22.3	0

2.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of Requests	Section	Section
69(1)(a)	0	70(1)	70(1)(d)
69(1)(b)	0	70(1)(a)	70(1)(e)
69.1	0	70(1)(b)	70(1)(f)
		70(1)(c)	70.1

2.4 Format of information released

Disposition	Paper	Electronic
All disclosed	1	0
Disclosed in part	4	5
Total	5	5

2.5 Complexity

**2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed**
Disposition of Requests	Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
All disclosed	347	347	1
Disclosed in part	5278	4531	9
All exempted	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	5652	4878	10

**2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests**
Disposition	Less Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
Disposition	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
All disclosed	0	0	1	347	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	1	21	5	1054	1	909	2	2547	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1	21	6	1401	1	909	2	2547	0	0

**2.5.3 Other complexities**
Disposition	Consultation Required	Total
All disclosed	0	0
Disclosed in part	7	7
All exempted	0	0
All excluded	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0
Total	7	7

2.6 Deemed refusals

**2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline**
Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline	Principal Reason
Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline	Workload	External Consultation	Internal Consultation	Other
6	3	3	0	0

**2.6.2 Number of days past deadline**
Number of Days Past Deadline	Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken	Number of Requests Past Deadline Where An Extension Was Taken	Total
1 to 15 days	0	2	2
16 to 30 days	0	0	0
31 to 60 days	2	1	3
61 to 120 days	0	1	1
121 to 180 days	0	0	0
181 to 365 days	0	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0	0
Total	2	4	6

2.7 Requests for translation

Translation Requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

Part 3: Disclosures Under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Total

Paragraph 8(2)(e)	Paragraph 8(2)(m)	Subsection 8(5)
0	0	0	0

Part 4: Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

Disposition for Correction Requests Received	Number
Notations attached	2
Requests for correction accepted	0
Total	2

Part 5: Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken	15(a)(i) Interference With Operations	15(a)(ii) Consultation		15(b) Translation or Conversion
Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken	15(a)(i) Interference With Operations	Section 70	Other	15(b) Translation or Conversion
All disclosed	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	2	0	6	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0
Total	2	0	6	0

5.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions	15(a)(i) Interference with operations	15(a)(ii) Consultation		15(b) Translation purposes
Length of Extensions	15(a)(i) Interference with operations	Section 70	Other	15(b) Translation purposes
1 to 15 days	0	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	2	0	6	0
Total	2	0	6	0

Part 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period	3	44
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	0	0
Total	3	44
Closed during the reporting period	3	44
Pending at the end of the reporting period	0	0

6.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
Recommendation	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
All disclosed	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Disclose in part	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	3

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
Recommendation	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All Exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Part 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

7.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
Number of Days	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101‒500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
Number of Days	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Part 8: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received

Section 31			Section 33			Section 35			Court action			Total
4			2			1			0			7

Part 9: Privacy Impact Accessments (PIAs)

Number of PIA(s) Completed			0

Part 10: Resources Related to the Privacy Act

10.1 Costs

Expenditures	Amount
Salaries	$34,690
Overtime	$0
Goods and Services	$385
Professional services contracts	$0
Other	$385
Total	$35,075

10.2 Human Resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	0.37
Part-time and casual employees	0.00
Regional staff	0.00
Consultants and agency personnel	0.00
Students	0.00
Total	0.37

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

**New Exemptions**
Section	Number of requests
22.4 National Security and Intelligence Committee	0
27.1 Patent or Trademark privilege	0

Date modified:: 2020-01-22