By Andrew Watts Capital News ContributorSep 01 2006 http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Martin Strasser says the rights of his customers are being violated and the B.C. Privacy Commissioner says he could be right. A statement from the privacy commissioner released Aug. 30, called Local Governments and the Growth of Surveillance, stated that bylaws forcing businesses to act as data collectors for the RCMP may be gathering too much personal information. Those findings could change the way Strasser and other local pawnshops do business. Strasser, of Premier Jewelry and Loans, said that pawnshops have no problem with submitting customer information, if requested, to the RCMP. But Strasser questions the need to pass along all the personal details of every one of their clients each time they make a sale in their store. “What is the point of violating the rights of two and a half thousand people if only one item comes back as seizable?” Strasser asks. Currently, pawnbrokers are required to take the details and serial numbers of every item being pawned, the date and time it was pawned, and the amount of the sale along with the address, phone number and picture ID of the seller. “If the interest is in the public’s good, that is fine. We have no problem with releasing information about the items in our store, but what is actually being monitored? Goods or people?” Strasser asked. Information and privacy commissioner David Loukidelis, said he is concerned by the growth of public databases at all levels of government. It is a trend that is on the rise as more and more personal information is stored electronically. Being able to access that information can be an effective way to fight crime, however the way that personal information is being collected and stored also raises personal privacy issues. As a result Loukidelis is urging the mayor and city council to repeal any bylaws that increase the proliferation of surveillance databases. “There are risks from collecting too much information. So let’s not contribute to that in a way that violates personal information,” Loukidelis said. Loukidelis said the need for a discussion paper arises from a number of complaints and inquiries regarding the collection of personal information over the past number of years. Rather than respond to each item on an individual basis, his office decided to respond to the issue as a whole. “With the recent advances in technology, there is a trend to collecting more personal information and we thought we should express our views on it,” Loukidelis said. “We recognize there is a need to fight crime, but we should do it in a balanced way. “City councils need to consider the way they approach their local community.
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http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/printver.asp?n=1889
Friday, September 01, 2006
BC Privacy Commissioner Urges Local Governments Not to Pass Surveillance Bylaws
By Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC
Victoria — In response to the growing number of local governments enacting bylaws requiring businesses to collect their customers' personal information and share it with local police agencies, British Columbia's Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis today released a discussion paper on Local Governments and the Growth of Surveillance. In it, Loukidelis points out that "in recent years there has been an expansion of the types of businesses that are required to collect customers' personal information, the purposes for such requirements and the types of personal information which must be collected and handed over to police." "This Office strongly believes that municipalities should not be in the business of passing surveillance bylaws," said Loukidelis, "as they clearly have privacy implications of varying degrees for ordinary members of the public who are going about their lawful business." He went on to express concern that "None of the bylaws we reviewed contains measures to ensure personal information is used properly or to ensure it's not used or disclosed inappropriately." Saying that he has written to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities and urged it to recommend that its members show restraint in this area, Loukidelis added, "I know our municipal politicians are doing their best to keep their communities safe, but they should not be passing these bylaws, which conscript businesses and compel citizens to give up their privacy in a wholesale way." The Commissioner acknowledged the need for pawnshop and second-hand dealer bylaws, but said they should be carefully designed to protect privacy. He added that, in other cases, consistent with long-standing law and practice in Canada, "It should be left to the courts to issue warrants to require businesses to turn over customer information on a case-by-case basis where justified."
A copy of the discussion paper is posted on the OIPC website at the following link: Surveillance Bylaw Discussion Paper.
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