2017-18 Annual Report to Parliament - Privacy Act

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Mandate of the Canadian Space Agency
  • Mission
• Organizational Structure
  • Delegations of Authority
  • Evolving Role of the ATIP Office
  • Request Processing Procedure
• Highlights of the 2017–18 Statistical Report
  • Requests Received and Processed
  • Provisions and Processing Times
  • Exemptions and Exclusions Invoked
  • Medium Used to Disclose Records
  • Pages Reviewed and Disclosed
  • Consultations and Extensions
  • Consultations Received from Other Federal Institutions
  • Administration Fees and Costs
• Training and Awareness-Raising
• Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives
• Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken with Respect to Complaints or Audits
• Compliance Monitoring
• Material Privacy Breach
• Disclosure in the Public Interest
• Privacy Impact Assessments
• Conclusion
• Delegation Order
• Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Introduction

The Privacy Act (the Act) came into effect on July 1, 1983.

It extends the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution, and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information.

Pursuant to section 72, the head of every federal institution shall prepare an annual report on the administration of the Act within the institution. The reports are submitted to Parliament at the end of each fiscal year.

This report provides information on the activities of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) related to the administration of the Act during the 2017–18 fiscal year.

Mandate of the Canadian Space Agency

To provide a better understanding of the context in which the Act is implemented at the CSA, this section gives an overview of the CSA's objectives and activities.

The CSA reports to the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Its mandate, as set out in the Canadian Space Agency Act, is "to promote the peaceful use and development of space, to advance the knowledge of space through science and to ensure that space science and technology provide social and economic benefits for Canadians."

Mission

The CSA is committed to leading the development and application of space knowledge for the benefit of Canadians and humanity.

To fulfil its mission, the CSA:

• pursues excellence collectively;
• advocates a client-centred attitude;
• supports employee-oriented practices and open communications;
• commits itself to both empowerment and accountability; and
• pledges to co-operate and work with partners for our mutual benefit.

The CSA has been an inspiration to Canadians for more than 25 years. In addition to consolidating major federal space programs, it co-ordinates all the components of the Canadian Space Program and manages Canada's major space-related activities. The CSA has the skills to remain at the forefront of knowledge in the specialized fields where Canada excels, while sponsoring, supporting and encouraging Canada's promising and space-ready companies and institutions.

More information on the CSA's activities can be found at: www.asc-csa.gc.ca.

Organizational Structure

Delegations of Authority

Under the Act, the head of the CSA is the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. In June 2016, some of the powers under the Act were delegated by the Minister to the incumbents of the CSA positions of vice-president, chief information officer, and Access to Information and Open Data co-ordinator. The appended grid on delegation of authorities identifies the powers delegated.

The Access to Information and Open Data co-ordinator is responsible for implementing the Act on a daily basis and reports to the vice-president and the chief information officer.

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is managed by the Access to Information and Open Data co-ordinator and falls under the authority of the chief information officer. The ATIP Office has two employees who work closely with all areas of the CSA to implement and uphold the Act.

Evolving Role of the ATIP Office

In 2016–17, the ATIP Office was mandated not only to process requests under the Act and to report on its administration, but also to implement the Open Government initiative.

Open government is becoming a global priority in improving transparency and making information more readily available to the public. The Government of Canada is no exception in that regard and has implemented a series of commitments in which departments and agencies are taking part. The objective is to disseminate as much information as possible to the public, an activity that can be closely linked to the administration of the Act.

Further to a decision to link access-to-information and open government activities, the ATIP Office has become a one-stop shop for CSA employees wishing to share information and members of the public wishing to obtain information.

This innovative and effective pairing, which resulted from a centralization of activities, has made it possible for the CSA to optimize its acquisition and application of knowledge. However, in order to ensure that access-to-information service standards are met despite the addition of a second mandate, the CSA has assigned an additional full-time employee to access-to-information and open data activities.

Request Processing Procedure

When it receives a request under the Act, the ATIP Office consults the CSA's office of primary interest and, when necessary and appropriate depending on the case, Justice Canada, the information-related communities of practice, the Treasury Board Secretariat or other institutions.

The ATIP Office uses a computerized ATIP request processing system to record the administrative actions taken, to review the records in question and to apply any exceptions and exemptions.

Once the records have been analyzed and consultations have taken place, the ATIP Office recommends the application of exemptions to the CSA's vice-president and chief information officer, who are responsible for approving the release of records under the Act. The records in response to the requests are then sent to the requesters.

Highlights of the 2017–18 Statistical Report

The statistical report for the period from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 is included at the end of this chapter.

Requests Received and Processed

The CSA received a larger number of requests for access to personal information in 2017–18 than in the previous fiscal year. Specifically, the number of requests received more than doubled from 4 to 9.

Of the 9 requests received, the CSA processed 8 during 2017–18 and carried 1 over to the next fiscal year.

The increase in requests received is directly related to the 2016 astronaut recruitment campaign. Several candidates claimed their right to access their personal information collected during the process. As a result, most of the requests involved the same types of records, namely documents collected as part of the campaign.

The median number of requests that the CSA processed over the last five fiscal years is approximately 4 per year. The following table illustrates the trend in requests received and carried over during the last five fiscal years:

Provisions and Processing Times

The Act stipulates that requests must normally be responded to within 30 calendar days. All requests processed in 2017–18 were processed within this timeframe.

Of those requests, two were processed in less than 15 days, while another six were processed in 16 to 30 days.

Exemptions and Exclusions Invoked

As previously stated, the vast majority of requests processed in 2017–18 were for essentially the same types of records. Exemptions, including under section 26, were invoked for all requests because they contained a great deal of information about other individuals. Furthermore, for one of the requests, the CSA invoked section 28, which stipulates the protection of any personal information requested under subsection 12(1) that relates to the physical or mental health of the individual who requested it where the examination of the information by the individual would be contrary to the best interests of the individual.

Finally, the CSA used the Access to Information Act to protect certain information found in a number of requests processed and obtained confidentially from other governments.

Medium Used to Disclose Records

In 2017–18, one of the requests received was abandoned while the responses to the remaining seven requests were disclosed electronically. It was the first time that electronic transmission was the sole medium used.

Pages Reviewed and Disclosed

With the Treasury Board Secretariat's introduction in 2011–12 of a new detailed statistical report, it is now possible to report the number of pages reviewed and compare it with the number of pages disclosed.

The number of pages reviewed or disclosed can vary considerably from year to year, depending on the subject matter of the requests and the quantity of relevant records held by the CSA.

The increase in the number of requests in 2017–18 resulted in a direct increase in the average number of pages disclosed. On average, 764 pages per request were disclosed in 2017–18, compared to 112 pages per request in 2016–17.

In total, 5,450 pages were processed, compared to 394 pages the previous year. Four of those requests contained more than 1,000 pages. In addition to the pages processed, 37 videos were processed.

The significant increase in pages processed required a review of the resources normally allocated to processing requests. The following table illustrates the fluctuation in the number of pages disclosed over the last five years:

Consultations and Extensions

Despite the high number of requests received and the increase in the number of pages corresponding to them, none of the processed requests required consultation.

Consultations Received from Other Federal Institutions

It is unusual for the CSA to receive consultation requests regarding personal information from other federal organizations. In 2017–18, the CSA did not receive any such requests.

Administration Fees and Costs

For the reporting period, the costs of administering the Act were estimated at $25,997. That amount is above last year's, $5,850, due to the fact that a larger portion of the CSA's operating costs was allocated to activities under the Privacy Act. Since the CSA also processes access-to-information requests and the number of such requests decreased significantly in 2017–18, there was a re-allocation of resources.

Of the $25,997 in administration costs, the vast majority, $24,372, was for salaries. The cost of goods and services amounted to $1,625. Those expenditures primarily involved the maintenance and licensing costs for the electronic ATIP request processing system, as well as costs for administrative supplies, training and travel.

Training and Awareness-Raising

In addition to managing ATIP requests, ATIP Office staff provide CSA employees with guidance and advice on complying with the Act. The guidance and advice is presented in a personalized way based on the requests.

In addition, in 2017–18, the ATIP Office offered training on the Act to all CSA employees through its corporate calendar of mandatory and optional training. Employees were invited to take the Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals (I015) course given by the Canada School of Public Service. A total of 49 employees took the training.

Information sessions on processing ATIP requests and awareness-raising sessions on record marking at the CSA are also available upon request. However, none of those sessions were given in 2017–18.

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

The CSA's policies, guidelines and procedures for administering the Act are posted on its intranet. In 2017–18, updates to those tools began. However, the work was suspended owing to the introduction of Bill C-58 to amend the Act. Once the bill receives Royal Assent in 2018, the ATIP Office will complete the updates.

Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken with Respect to Complaints or Audits

The CSA did not receive any complaints during the 2017–18 fiscal year, and no audits were conducted. Furthermore, in 2017–18, there were no unresolved complaints.

Compliance Monitoring

The time spent on processing requests is tracked through the electronic ATIP request processing system. For related CSA reporting purposes, reports, including one weekly report, are sent to senior management and others involved in the requests.

Material Privacy Breach

A privacy breach involves improper or unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, retention or disposal of personal information. In 2017–18, there were no material privacy breaches.

Disclosure in the Public Interest

The purpose of the CSA's policy on the use of personal information is to ensure that such information is used only for the purposes for which it was collected or for uses consistent with those purposes. In 2017–18, no personal information was disclosed under subsections 8(2)(m) and 8(5).

Privacy Impact Assessments

All government institutions subject to the Act that create, sponsor or fund programs, projects or initiatives that involve the collection, use or sharing of personal information are responsible for conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Directive on Privacy Impact Assessment supports institutions such as the CSA in this activity. No privacy impact assessments were conducted in 2017–18.

Conclusion

Through its ATIP Office, the CSA will continue its mandate to respond to all requests for access to personal information in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Act. Its mandate will also include the dissemination of data and information as part of the Open Government initiative. In 2017–18, the CSA will strengthen the implementation of those activities by preparing the future operations required in anticipation of the implementation of Bill C-58.

Delegation Order

Canadian Space Agency

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation Order

The Minister of Industry Canada, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers and functions of the Minister as the head of a government institution, under the section of the Acts set out in the schedule opposite each position. This Delegation Order supersedes all previous Delegation Orders

Schedule