Glossary

Activity: Activities are the major tasks or components performed by the organization to accomplish each of its programs. Several activities may be associated with an institutional program..

Administrative Purpose: The use of personal information in a decision making process that directly affects that individual.

Central Banks (PCE and PCU): describe information about employees from all or several government institutions records and related banks are maintained by central agencies such as the Public Service Commission, Public Works and Government Services Canada, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Identified with the unique identifier "PCE" or "PCU" as part of the bank number

Class of Personal Information: Other personal information not used administratively or not retrievable by personal identifier, for instance unsolicited opinions, complaints or correspondence· This category was included to ensure that government departments and agencies account for all personal information 
that they hold.

Confidentiality: The obligation of a custodian to protect personal information and not misuse or wrongfully disclose it.

Data Matching: An activity that involves comparing personal data obtained from a variety of sources, including personal information banks, for the purpose of making decisions about the individuals to whom the data pertains.

Information Life Cycle: This encompasses the stages of the planning, collection, creation, receipt, and capture of information; its organization, retrieval, use, accessibility, dissemination and transmission; its storage, maintenance, and protection; and its disposition and preservation.

Manuals: The manuals listed under this title contain the directives, instructions, guidelines or procedures that are used by the employees of a department or agency to carry out its operations, activities or programs.

Multi-Institutional Disposition Authority (MIDA): A Records Disposition Authority granted by the National Archivist to government institutions on a multi-institutional basis, which relates to records managed by all or a multiple  number of government institutions, and which allows the institutions empowered to use the authority to dispose of records under certain terms and conditions. These are designed to eliminate the need for government institutions individually to prepare submissions for and negotiate agreements with the National Archivist for records that have similar administrative or operational status.

Particular Banks: 

• Describes personal information about employees that is specific to the requirements of each department or agency and is held within their record keeping systems.
• Includes current and former employees of the federal public service.
• Identified with the unique identifier "PPE" as part of the bank number Employee (PPE).

Particular Bank – Public (PPU):

• Describes personal information about:
  
  • any segment of the population outside of the federal public service (federal employees) 
  • members of the general public and federal employees (current and former) 
    
• only contained in Info Source: Sources of Federal Government Information
  
• Identified with the unique identifier "PPU" 

Personal Information Banks (PIBs):  

• A summary of the type of information about individuals that is held by federal departments and agencies.
  
• include all personal information that:
  
  • is organized and retrievable by a person's name or by an identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned only to that person. 
  •  include personal information that has been or is being used, or is 
    available for use for an administrative purpose.
    
• There are six types of Personal Information Banks (PIB)
  • Standard Banks (PSE)
  • Central Banks (PCE)
  • Particular Banks – Employee (PPE)
  • Particular Bank – Public (PPU)
  • Standard Banks (PSU)
  • Standard Central Banks (PCU)

Privacy: The fundamental right to control the collection, use, and disclosure of information about ourselves.

Program:

• Programs are the largest unit of business activity in an institution – a unit set up to achieve institutional objectives as authorized by Parliament.
• A program represents the major responsibilities that are managed by the organization to fulfil its goals.

Program Records:  

• Provide pointers to program information held by each federal government department or agency within their record keeping system 
• Program Record descriptions identify the subject areas covered by these programs.
  

Program Record Number or Bank Number:  

• A unique identifying number located at the end of each Program Record or Personal Information Bank
• Helps the Access to Information and Privacy office to locate the information 
  requested

• Is assigned by each institution as a finding tool to access the 
  information contained in their records.

Reading Room: 

The Access to Information Act requires all government institutions to provide facilities where their manuals can be reviewed. The location of one or more reading rooms is provided under this heading.

Records Disposition Authority:  

• The instrument that the National Archivist issues to enable government institutions to dispose of records which no longer have operational utility, either by permitting their destruction, by requiring their transfer to Library and Archives Canada or by agreeing to their alienation from the control of the Government of Canada.
• Authority is derived from the provisions of the Library and Archives of Canada Act Accountability regarding the decision to destroy records and the timing of records destruction rests with individual government institutions.
• Normally applied when records are no longer required to support the business functions, operations and activities of the 
  organization.

Retention and Disposal Standards/Guidelines: 

• A timetable for the length of time institutional records are maintained within the institution:
  • when the information/records are no longer required to meet operational, legal or other requirements
  • when the RDA can be applied to the record holdings for final disposition 
  • The final Disposition of the records when the retention period is reached, i.e. destroyed, alienated, transferred, must be included

Security: The process of assessing threats and risks to information and taking steps to     protect it.

Standard Banks (PSE and PSU):

• describe information contained in common administrative records that many government institutions maintain about their employees or the general public.
  • pay and benefits, training and development, performance, etc.
• Institutions may require several or all of these banks to describe the personal information contained within their records.
• these banks must be individually registered by each institution using them, and subsequently declared in Info Source.
• not all government institutions maintain every type of personal information described in the Standard Banks
• identified with the unique identifier "PSE" or "PSU" as part of the bank number 

Standard Program Records:  

Standardized description of records that document internal administrative functions, systems and procedures that are common to or shared by all federal government institutions.

• Federal institutions subject to ATIA may declare Standard Program Records rather than declaring and describing institution-specific records
  
• Examples of Standard Program Records include Accounts and Accounting, Budgets, Buildings, etc.