Saanich district staff who put spyware on their new mayor鈥檚 computer showed a frightening ignorance of sa国际传媒鈥檚 privacy laws. The province鈥檚 privacy commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, issued a report on Monday that supported Mayor Richard Atwell鈥檚 allegations that the staff went too far 鈥� much too far 鈥� in installing Spector 360 on Atwell鈥檚 computer and a dozen others. She also ripped holes in their justifications for their actions.
Atwell created a storm in January when he revealed that he was not working in his municipal office because he had learned the software had been put on his computer without his knowledge. Spector 360 could record all his keystrokes, take pictures of everything on his computer screen, track his emails and collect personal information.
The accusations sounded wild and appeared connected to his suspicion that senior staff remained loyal to former mayor Frank Leonard. That impression was reinforced when the district issued statements saying the software was part of a security upgrade that had been recommended by an independent audit last year.
District officials said people at work had no expectation of privacy when using the district鈥檚 computers. They said Atwell had been given a form informing him of the software, but he didn鈥檛 sign it.
Those statements convinced many people that Atwell had overreacted to something ordinary. They had the opposite effect on the privacy commissioner.
Denham saw some serious questions, not least of which was the district鈥檚 contention that employees have no expectation of privacy at work. On Jan. 20, she announced she was launching an investigation of the affair.
What she found not only backed up almost everything Atwell said, including that the software could capture personal information of not only staff, but citizens as well. The district kept no logs of who looked at the information, so there is no way to know if it was viewed by anyone.
She made five recommendations that the district should heed, including destroying the personal data collected and starting a privacy-management program.
The commissioner鈥檚 report also revealed that senior staff had misled council and the public.
The district said the independent audit had recommended installing Spector 360.
It did not, Denham said.
The district said employees鈥� privacy is not protected at work.
It is, Denham said.
After 20 years of privacy laws in sa国际传媒, institutions such as municipalities should know the law. Denham was dismayed by their ignorance. We must all wonder if that same ignorance extends to other agencies and local governments.
In addition, district staff offered flimsy justifications. They said Atwell had been given a notification form, but they couldn鈥檛 produce it. They said they rushed ahead with installation just after the November election because they knew Atwell was a systems professional and they wanted to prove to him that they were handling security properly.
We do not ordinarily single out public servants for criticism here, but in this case, it can鈥檛 be avoided. What happened in Saanich cannot be laid at the door of elected councillors. It鈥檚 the job of staff to know the law.
Atwell was concerned that district staff were biased against him, and what Denham discovered about their actions and justifications suggests he might be right.
The new mayor鈥檚 other issues with officialdom are awaiting resolution. The office of the police complaint commissioner is gathering information on his two complaints about the actions of Saanich police.
His further allegation that he was harassed by being pulled over four times by members of the Integrated Road Safety Unit still hangs in the air. It is a serious accusation that has to be resolved.
In the meantime, Saanich must heed Denham鈥檚 report and follow her five recommendations.
