Privacy and the USA PATRIOT Act

Enclosed you will find the final version of the policy Guidance Document entitled Taking Privacy into Account Prior to Making Contracting Decisions together with the final report entitled Privacy Matters which was made public by the Treasury Board Secretariat on March 28, 2006. A draft of the Guidance Document had been posted last fall for consultation purposes as an Information Notice (2005-19). In the near future, explanatory notes will be added to the checklist found at Annex B of the Guidance Document.

TBS strongly urges institutions to consider the advice provided in the Guidance Document prior to entering into contracts involving the handling of personal information, or other Protected and Classified information.

The Privacy Matters report provides a synopsis of the impact of the USA PATRIOT Act on the privacy of Canadians. A table that lists the level of risks reported by each institution regarding contracting is attached at Annex A. We would ask that you pay particular attention to the section dealing with "The Way Forward", which reports on future measures the government intends to take to continue to monitor and further address risks. 

Please address any questions concerning these documents to Andrée Morissette at 952-3222 or Morissette.Andree@tbs-sct.gc.ca or Terry Murray at 941-4462 or Murray.Terry@tbs-sct.gc.ca. 

Donald Lemieux

Acting Executive Director
Information, Privacy and Security Policy Division
Chief Information Officer Branch

Cc : ATIP Coordinators 
Heads of Communications 
Heads of Library Services