Privacy Commissioner opens investigation into Statcan's efforts to obtain bank records

Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien opens a survey on Statistics Canada after receiving complaints about the agency's plan to obtain detailed personal banking records.

Mr. Therrien announced the investigation Wednesday afternoon. The Commissioner's Office has stated that it has already consulted Statcan about its intention to collect more data from private companies and will continue these discussions as part of a formal investigation.

"The Commissioner's office will look for details on the information requests that the agency has made to various industry sectors," the office said.

Earlier in the day, Chief Statistician Anil Arora defended plans to get Canadians' detailed banking data, but said he was seeking advice from the federal Privacy Commissioner on how to proceed.

"Traditional methods of collecting statistics are no longer enough to accurately measure the economy and social change in Canada," Arora wrote in a statement posted on the agency's Twitter account. "It is our duty to use the best methods and sources to provide factual information to Canadians when they need it, while ensuring the highest level of privacy and confidentiality protection."

The statement describes the efforts as a pilot project and states that Statcan sought the advice of the Privacy Commissioner.

"I understand the concerns of Canadians and I want to badure them that their personal information is carefully protected and never publicly disclosed," said Arora.

Conservative MPs accused the Liberal government this week of allowing the agency to create "Big Brother on steroids" through a plan to gain unprecedented access to personal information.

In recent years, the agency has said it needs to find new ways to get data, as fewer Canadians are willing to respond to traditional telephone surveys.

In a two-hour briefing with reporters on October 11, four senior Statcan officials presented the agency's "modernization" plan to remedy the situation. They said private companies – including banks, retailers, and cell phone companies – are currently collecting large amounts of data on Canadians. While some of this information is already shared with Statcan so that it can produce regular reports on economic growth, employment and inflation, agency officials have claimed that efficiency gains can be made.

Statcan proposes that banks and other companies provide the agency with non-anonymized raw data. Statistics Canada could then delete individual names.

Officials said they knew that this practice raised privacy concerns, but that the agency had a long history of protecting personal information and was working with Mr. Therrien on the details.

Mr. Therrien's office said some companies had expressed concerns about Statcan's request for detailed customer information, such as phone records, credit reports and electricity bills.

Global News reported this week that the agency had sent letters to the banking sector stating that it planned to collect "individual-level financial transaction data" and social insurance numbers in order to develop a "new bank of institutional information of a personal nature".

The Canadian Bankers Association was surprised because the industry felt that the plan was still in the exploratory stage.

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, head of Statcan, on Tuesday accused the Conservatives of opposing facts. During question period, he pointed out that the previous Conservative government had removed the mandatory long form census, a vital source of data for Statcan, which the Liberals reinstated when they took office.

"The members across the way basically have a problem with the data because they do not believe the facts," said Mr. Bains. "They do not believe in data."