Commissioner Cavoukian calls for Ontario Police Services to stop the indiscriminate disclosure of attempted suicide information
Document
Commissioner Cavoukian calls for Ontario Police Services to stop the indiscriminate disclosure of attempted suicide information
Summary
TORONTO, ON (April 14, 2014) – Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian has released the findings of her Special Investigation into sensitive information about attempted suicides by Ontarians being shared with U.S. border officials. The Report, “Crossing the Line: The Indiscriminate Disclosure of Attempted Suicide Information to U.S. Border Officials via CPIC,” recommends that Ontario police services cease the routine disclosure of suicide-related information via CPIC.
The investigation was initiated by the Commissioner upon hearing a number of stories of Ontarians being denied entry into the U.S., apparently on the basis of their mental health history. Upon ruling out the possibility of the information being disclosed by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the investigation focused on the personal information collected by the police as a consequence of interactions with individuals who had threatened or attempted suicide. This information is recorded by police services and, in the case of the Toronto Police Services, is routinely uploaded into the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, specifically into the Special Interest Police (SIP) repository. Maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), CPIC contains a vast array of law enforcement and public safety information and is available to Canadian law enforcement agencies and to U.S. border officials through an information sharing agreement with the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Published Date
Apr 14, 2014
