Audits: RCMP and Airport Security Ignore Privacy

New reports by the privacy commissioner suggest airport screeners and the RCMP have collected information they do not need.

Federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddard says the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has exceeded its mandate. In an audit released Thursday, Stoddard says the airport screening agency was conducting security reports on matters that did not involve aviation security or law breaking. Sensitive passenger information was also said to be improperly secured, left on shelves in plain view. Meanwhile, a separate audit of the RCMP says the agency has also overstepped privacy considerations by keeping records about crimes for which people were pardoned or deemed wrongfully convicted. The Privacy Act requires that organizations keep personal information only as long as it is necessary.

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