Four agencies in the province contract with US companies to keep records

Halifax - Concerns being raised over the security of the personal records of British Columbia's residents has also sparked a controversy on Canada's east coast.

Responding to growing public pressure the Nova Scotia Conservative government has announced that they are considering revamping the province's freedom of information laws.

Recently British Columbia's privacy commissioner released a report saying that American authorities could use the US Patriot Act to get access to private information on Canadians if personal records are outsourced to U.S. companies. 

The Nova Scotia NDP is pushing the province's Conservative government to introduce legislation that would protect privacy rights.  Party leader Darrell Dexter has told the media that there are four Nova Scotia agencies that use US companies to maintain their records.

The Patriot Act provides the FBI with the authority, for intelligence gathering or for anti-terrorism, to access “any tangible thing” under the control of a U.S. company or Canadian subsidiary.

Private data outsourced to four US companies

Four U.S. companies have contracts to handle electronic databases for the Nova Scotia government.  This includes:

• Texas-based information technology giant EDS, which manages the province’s mainframe processing system;

• Virginia-based Unysis keeps the database for the Registry of Motor Vehicles; and

• ACS State and Local Solutions Inc. of Dallas maintains part of the community services integrated case management system.

Officials with the Nova Scotia government are studying the implications of the Patriot Act on the privacy of Nova Scotians but continue to offer vague assurances that people's private records are not at risk.

BCGEU at forefront to defend privacy rights

The British Columbia Government and Service Employees Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) has been leading the fight against the outsourcing of private information on B.C. residents.

Last week, despite the findings of the province's privacy commissioner, the Campbell government announced that they were contracting out the processing of medical claims to U.S.-based Maximus Inc. for 10 years at a cost of $324 million. 

The BCGEU has already launched a lawsuit challenging the move. The government said it had incorporated a subsidiary - Maximus BC - to handle the contract. NUPGE

More information:
• British Columbians double-crossed, says BCGEU
• BCGEU demands halt to outsourcing of private data
• Privacy and the USA Patriot Act pdf
• Patriot Act will prevail over B.C. privacy legislation
• U.S. would overwhelm feeble B.C. privacy protections
• Quick Facts - Powers of the U.S. Patriot Act
• Part 1 - BCGEU Submission to Privacy Commissioner on U.S. Patriot Act pdf
• Part 2 - BCGEU Submission to Privacy Commissioner on U.S. Patriot Act pdf

Web posted by NUPGE: 8 November 2004

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