Can you trust the B.C. government with your private information?

Another damning report and a new set of privacy guidelines by Elizabeth Denham, British Columbia’s information and privacy watchdog.

Denham delivered the results of her probe of the Ministry of Health’s massive privacy breaches on June 26, the very day British Columbia's lawmakers returned to Victoria for their first sitting after the May 14 election.

Denham examined three breaches of personal health data, stemming from a scandal that began in May 2012 when information from every British Columbian’s health file was transferred via thumb drive to a contractor. The scandal also involves allegations of conflicts of interest in the Pharmaceutical Services Division.

“Personal health information is much more than ‘just data’ – it is sensitive information provided confidentially in the context of care,” Denham wrote.

“The Ministry failed to translate privacy and security policies into meaningful business practices. The primary deficiency at the Ministry was a lack of effective governance, management and controls over access to personal health information.”

“At the time the breaches occurred, there was a lack of clear responsibility for privacy within the Ministry. This was due, in part I believe, to a lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities following the centralization of some information access and privacy functions. Ministry privacy governance was further weakened by a complete lack of audit and review of employee and contractor functions relating to privacy. There were no mechanisms to ensure that researchers were complying with the privacy requirements, as stipulated in contracts and written agreements, and to ensure that Ministry employees were taking appropriate privacy training and following privacy policies.

“As a result, Ministry employees were able to download large amounts of personal health data onto unencrypted flash drives and share it with unauthorized persons, undetected.”

It is B.C.'s biggest privacy breach scandal, but it is not unique.

Via Freedom of Information, the government reluctantly provided me a list of 350 incidents from 2010 to 2012. They range from the ridiculous to the disgraceful. Listen to the podcast of The Investigators on CKNW AM 980 and read the documents below.

Have you been a victim of a government privacy breach? Contact me.

File CTZ201300019 by BobMackin

No records no longer a surprise

I hate to tell you a "dog bites man" story, but this one is too important to ignore.

On Nov. 18, 2012, The Province's Cassidy Olivier revealed how workers in the Office of Premier Christy Clark and the BC Liberal caucus worked on government time, for the public dime to devise attack advertising against NDP leader Adrian Dix. Specifically, the CantAffordDix.ca website (which redirects to RiskyDix.ca, which doesn't appear to be online anymore).

The government's own Standards of Conduct are clear: "employees must not engage in political activities during working hours or use government facilities, equipment or resources in support of these activities." 

I asked the Public Service Agency, via Freedom of Information, if the misconduct described in Olivier's story had been investigated. No surprise -- the PSA claims no records exist. See the letter below.

I say no surprise, because this non-response was delivered to me a week after Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham released a report on the disturbing trend toward an "oral government," in which important government information is not recorded. The government, particularly the Office of the Premier, is escaping public scrutiny.

Denham's report was in response to a complaint from the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association of B.C., but focusses on the "no records" claims surrounding the departure of Clark's chief of staff Ken Boessenkool.

Some of the characters in Olivier's story are involved in the Multicultural Outreach Strategy saga, such as Liberal caucus executive director Primrose "You Can't Be Doing Party Work Here. For Sure, I Would Agree With That" Carson.

John Dyble, Clark's deputy minister and chief of the public service, is working on an internal review of the Quick Wins ethnic vote-wooing conspiracy, despite calls from the NDP and Conservatives for an independent investigation. Dyble was hired to his $310,000-a-year gig by Clark and serves at her pleasure.

Here is some essential reading at this link for Mr. Dyble: copies of Pamela Martin and Kim Haakstad's agendas, showing that they discussed the Multicultural Outreach plan during government working hours. 

Public Service Agency: No Records, Again by