Poor tax office security leads to improper disclosure of Canadians’ info

OTTAWA – The privacy watchdog says weak security practices at the federal tax office led to thousands of files being inappropriately accessed for years without detection.

Jennifer Stoddart has more than a dozen recommendations — including keeping an eye on employee access rights — to ensure the Canada Revenue Agency protects sensitive information.

Stoddart says taxpayers deserve to have their personal data safeguarded, particularly when they are legally obligated to provide it to the government.

For the second year in a row, all-time highs were set for both privacy complaints about federal organizations as well as data breaches reported by departments and agencies.

From April 2012 to the end of March, Stoddart received 2,273 complaints from the public, up from 986 over the same period a year before.

Much of the increase stemmed from two highly publicized data breaches involving Employment and Social Development Canada and the Justice Department.

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