Alberta privacy commissioner calls posting of voter information online ‘very serious’
Late Thursday afternoon, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta issued a statement about the developments.
“My office is still working to determine the facts of this case,” said Commissioner Diane McLeod, who noted her office was informed by Elections Alberta earlier in the day about a potential breach. “However, it appears this matter may fall outside my jurisdiction.”
“My office does not have jurisdiction over personal information contained in the List of Electors that may have been disclosed by a political party. This is because the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) does not apply to political parties.”
McLeod said her office will continue to look to figure out if it has jurisdiction over the Centurion Project and, if it does, it will investigate to determine whether any violations of PIPA occurred.
“What happened here is very serious,” she said. “More than 2.9 million Albertans have had their personal information breached. For some of these individuals there is likely a real risk of significant harm given that their home address and phone numbers have been made public.”
McLeod added that she believes there is “a concerning gap in Alberta’s privacy laws as it relates to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by political parties.”
“This incident demonstrates that it is high time for political parties to be made subject to PIPA.”
