Review of the Personal
Information Handling Practices
of the Canadian Firearms
Program

Department of Justice Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Final Report - August 29, 2001

Table of Contents

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• REVIEW
  • BACKGROUND
  • SCOPE OF REVIEW
• PROGRAM PROFILE
  • AUTHORITY and MANDATE
  • ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PRINCIPAL PARTNERS
    • Department of Justice Canada (DOJ)
    • Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
    • Chief Firearms Officers (CFOs)
    • Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA)
  • PERSONAL INFORMATION HOLDINGS
    • Canadian Firearms Registration System (CFRS)
    • Canadian Firearms Registry On-line (CFRO)
    • Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC)
    • Police Information Retrieval System (PIRS)
    • Provincial and Municipal Police Information Retrieval Systems
    • Firearms Interest Police (FIP)
    • Hardcopy Records
• FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS - PART I
  • ACCESS & CORRECTION
    • Personal Information Request Protocol
    • Personal Information Banks in InfoSource
  • COLLECTION
    • Police Information Retrieval System (PIRS)
    • Provincial and Municipal Police Information Retrieval Systems
    • Firearms Interest Police (FIP)
    • Social Insurance Number (SIN)
    • Collection from Credit Reporting Agencies
    • Telephone Monitoring at the Central Processing Site (CPS)
    • Information Obtained from Former Spouses
  • DISCLOSURE
    • Disclosure to Employers
    • Disclosure to Local Police Agencies
    • Disclosure to Chief Firearms Officers
    • Disclosure to Public through Appeal Process
  • PROTECTION & SECURITY
    • Verifiers' Expanded Role
  • RETENTION & DISPOSAL
• FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS - PART II
  • PERSONAL HISTORY QUESTIONS ON THE FIREARMS LICENCE APPLICATION FORM
• APPENDIX A - Summary of Recommendations for Parts I and II
• APPENDIX B - Complaints under the Privacy Act
• APPENDIX C - Standard Compliance Review Objectives and Criteria
• APPENDIX D - Summary of Key Statistics - Firearms Program
• APPENDIX E - Highlights of Firearms Act and its Regulations
• APPENDIX F - Privacy and Access Legislation in Provinces & Territories
• APPENDIX G - Memoranda of Understanding (Service Agreements)
• APPENDIX H - Outstanding Issues
  • Personal information handling practices by the CCRA
  • Outsourcing
  • International information sharing agreements
• APPENDIX I - Firearms Licence Application Form
• APPENDIX J - List of Studies Reviewed
• APPENDIX K - Breakdown of Questions 19(d) to (f)

Glossary of Acronyms

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