Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Privacy Act 2019-2020

ISSN: 2561-9233

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.

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.

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 and a student assistant.

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

During the reporting period, the CRCC was not party to any service agreements under section 71.3 of the Privacy Act.

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).

Privacy Requests Received

During the course of the reporting period, thirty-two (32) new requests for personal information under the Act were received. Seven (7) requests were carried over from the previous year. Of those thirty-nine (39), thirty-two (32) requests were processed during that period and seven (7) were carried forward into 2020-2021.

Twelve (12) of the requests for personal information that were processed during 2019‑2020 were from individuals seeking their personal information from public complaints files held by the CRCC. Nineteen (19) were from individuals who erroneously applied to the CRCC to obtain law enforcement information from the RCMP and one (1) was a general request searching for their personal information from the CRCC.

Performance

The thirty-two (32) Privacy requests received by the CRCC in 2019–2020 represent a consistent increase over the number of Privacy requests received in recent years:

2019-20 32
2018-19 27
2017-18 11
2016-17 9
2015-16 7

Of the thirty-two (32) requests processed during the reporting period, five (5) were released without redaction, six (6) were released in part with exemptions and one (1) was exempted entirely because the individual requested information about another individual. In the other twenty (20) requests, no records were found to exist. During the reporting period, the CRCC claimed exemptions under paragraph 19(1)(a) (Foreign government information), paragraph 19(1)(b) (International Organization information), paragraph 19(1)(d) (Municipal 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.

External consultation was required for four (4) requests.

The statutory deadlines were not met for four (4) requests (two were due to external consultation, while the other two were due to workload). Therefore, twenty-eight (28) of the thirty-two (32) requests processed (87.5%) were responded to within the established timelines.

The total number of pages processed for the twelve (12) requests where information was found to exist was 6,286 pages.

Five (5) 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 five (5) consultations were closed during the reporting period, resulting in 118 pages processed.

See Annex B for the Statistical Report.

Since March 14, 2020, the CRCC implemented exceptional workplace measures to curb the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect federal employees and the public. The CRCC Access to Information and Privacy staff are working from home most of the time, but complete tasks that cannot be performed remotely by attending the CRCC workplace as required. This work is supported by part-time on-site information management staff.

Training and Awareness

During the reporting period, no CRCC employees participated in formal privacy training. Guidance on privacy matters was provided on an ad hoc basis (e.g. in person, by email and through the CRCC's electronic newsletter).

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

The ATIP Unit has been actively involved in communicating evolving privacy requirements emerging in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the personal information of the CRCC's employees and members of the public that the CRCC serves. These communications include Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat policies and directives on privacy, as well as general advice on email encryption and personal information handling for employees working at home.

Significant Changes

During the reporting period, the CRCC continued to implement 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.

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 General Counsel to discuss various issues pertaining to in-progress ATIP files.

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.

Privacy Breaches

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

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.

Complaints

There were no complaints filed against the CRCC during the reporting period. Nine (9) complaints that were filed against the CRCC during previous periods by the same requester (i.e. four involved refusals to make corrections and five related to exemptions applied by the CRCC) were still under investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on March 31, 2020.

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: 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-31

Section 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	32
Outstanding from previous reporting period	7
Total	39
Closed during reporting period	32
Carried over to next reporting period	7

Section 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	5	0	0	0	0	0	5
Disclosed in part	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	6
All exempted	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	1	17	2	0	0	0	0	20
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1	25	2	4	0	0	0	32

2.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests
18(2)	0	22(1)(a)(i)	2	23(a)	0
19(1)(a)	1	22(1)(a)(ii)	0	23(b)	0
19(1)(b)	1	22(1)(a)(iii)	0	24(a)	0
19(1)(c)	0	22(1)(b)	2	24(b)	0
19(1)(d)	2	22(1)(c)	0	25	2
19(1)(e)	0	22(2)	0	26	6
19(1)(f)	0	22.1	0	27	2
20	0	22.2	0	27.1	0
21	0	22.3	0	28	0
		22.4	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

Paper	Electronic	Other
4	7	0

2.5 Complexity

**2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed**
Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
6405	5791	12

**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	5	72	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	2	74	5	216	0	0	2	985	1	4444
All exempted	1	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	8	146	6	216	0	0	2	985	1	4444

**2.5.3 Other complexities**
Disposition	Consultation Required	Total
All disclosed	0	0
Disclosed in part	4	4
All exempted	0	0
All excluded	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0
Total	4	4

2.6 Closed requests

**2.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines**
	Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	28
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%)	87.5

2.7 Deemed refusals

**2.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines**
Number of Requests Closed Past the Legislated Timelines	Principal Reason
Number of Requests Closed Past the Legislated Timelines	Interference with Operations / Workload	External Consultation	Internal Consultation	Other
4	2	2	0	0

**2.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)**
Number of Days Past Legislated Timelines	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timelines Where an Extension Was Taken	Total
1 to 15 days	1	1
16 to 30 days	2	2
31 to 60 days	1	1
61 to 120 days	0	0
121 to 180 days	0	0
181 to 365 days	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0
Total	4	4

2.8 Requests for translation

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

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

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

Section 4: Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

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

Section 5: Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Number of requests where an extension was taken	15(a)(i) Interference with operations				15 (a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation purposes or conversion
	Further review required to determine exemptions	Large volume of pages	Large volume of requests	Documents are difficult to obtain	Cabinet Confidence Section (Section 70)	External	Internal


4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0

5.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions	15(a)(i) Interference with operations				15 (a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation purposes or conversion
	Further review required to determine exemptions	Large volume of pages	Large volume of requests	Documents are difficult to obtain	Cabinet Confidence Section (Section 70)	External	Internal


1 to 15 days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
31 days or greater								0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0

Section 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	5	118
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	0	0
Total	5	118
Closed during the reporting period	5	118
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	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
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	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	5

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

Section 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

Section 8: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received

Section 31			Section 33			Section 35			Court action			Total
0			0			0			0			0

Section 9: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) and Personal Information Banks (PIB)

9.1 Privacy Impact Assessments

Number of PIA(s) Completed	0

9.2 Personal Information Banks

Personal Information Banks	Active	Created	Terminated		Modified
	1	0	0		0

Section 10: Material Privacy Breaches

Number of material privacy breaches reported to TBS	0
Number of material privacy breaches reported to OPC	0

Section 11: Resources Related to the Privacy Act

11.1 Costs

Expenditures	Amount
Salaries	$39,917
Overtime	$0
Goods and Services	$196
Professional services contracts	$0
Other	$0
Total	$40,113

11.2 Human Resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	0.41
Part-time and casual employees	0.00
Regional staff	0.00
Consultants and agency personnel	0.00
Students	0.09
Total	0.50

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

Supplemental Statistical Report – Requests affected by COVID-19

The following table reports the total number of formal requests received during two periods; 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31.

**Table 4 – Requests Received**
	Number of requests
Received from 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13	28
Received from 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31	4
Total	32

The following table reports the total number of requests closed within the legislated timelines and the number of closed requests that were deemed refusals during two periods 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31.

**Table 5 – Requests Closed**
	Number of requests closed within the legislated timelines	Number of requests closed past the legislated timelines
Received from 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and outstanding from previous reporting periods	27	4
Received from 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31	1	0
Total	28	4

The following table reports the total number of requests carried over during two periods; 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31.

**Table 6– Requests Carried Over**
	Number of requests
Requests from 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and outstanding from previous reporting period that were carried over to the 2020-2021 reporting period	3
Requests from 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31 that were carried over to the 2020-2021 reporting period	4
Total	7

Date modified:: 2020-11-04