Probably all the Canadian comrades already know about this... >From: "Sara Tompson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Fwd: clinic and privacy stuff >X-Comment: N.O.W. Choice list > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kelly Bert Manning) >Subject: Canadian Government Computer Abuse >Organization: The National Capital FreeNet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada > Staff working at Vancouver abortion Clinics exercised their Freedom of Information rights to see if anyone had been checking their vehicle registrations. An audit by the Insurance Corp. of BC revealed that the licence numbers of several workers had been checked through the the Canadian Police Information Computer in quick succession from a Vancouver detachment of the RCMP. An investigation is underway to see if this was an appropriate use of the system. The requests for an access audit were made after Gordon Watson, whose violent attacks on workers have been broadcast repeatedly, claimed to be paying $70 to $100 per licence number to obtain vehicle registration details from "private detectives". Mr. Watson was convicted of 1 assault. ICBC says that it has provisions for concealing the registration details of victims of violence that can be applied to abortion workers if they ask for it. This discloure occurs just 2 months after Garcon Romalis, a doctor who provided abortions, was shot while eating breakfast in his kitchen. Gordon Watson was broadcast describing this as "good shooting". The involvement of CPIC in this puts an interesting light on claims that BC's proposed mandatory central registry of prescriptions would have "CPIC type access controls to protect privacy". ------------------------------ Date: 07 Jan 1995 01:34:05 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David Jones) Subject: Who's Looking You Up Organization: Centre For Intelligent Machines, McGill University [repost from efc-talk] * Good Cop, Bad Cop * * Who's got access to your personal data? * "If we, just by fluke at guessing the dates to check, found three records called up in an unauthorized manner, just how much more is there? It's very scary." --- Kim Sander What happens when a police officer abuses his ability to access sensitive personal information stored in the nation's law enforcement computers? Perhaps we'll find out soon, in Delta, B.C. This tale raises issues of electronic privacy, demonstrates the utility of the utility of our freedom-of-information legislation, and finally, the influence of the media. I spoke with Kim Sander, spokesperson for "Every Woman's Health Centre" (an abortion clinic in Vancouver, BC) who filled me in on some background for the story that was on every news broadcast last night [Thursday, Jan 5]. Last August, several of the clinic staff received phone calls or mail from anti-abortion activists. They found this was rather unsettling, because they'd made a point of trying to keep personal information like address or telephone numbers private. This concern led them to the police, to whom they explained that anti-abortion activists were recording license plate numbers outside the clinic and apparently using them to track down personal information ... but the police didn't seem to do much. In September, Gordon Watson, a prominent local anti-abortion activist, stated while on the stand in a court hearing that he had gathered license plate numbers in order to "follow up on them" and he "paid good money" to get personal information about the car owners. When clinic staff asked the Crown council and police to investigate, they were told, "Give us two weeks." After two months of hearing nothing, the women filed a freedom-of-information request on November 15th with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC maintains all auto insurance and registration) seeking to find out who had been accessing their personal records. They provided 8 of their license plate numbers to be checked. The ICBC information officer explained that while daily access logs were kept, accesses were not recorded in the personal records themselves. Without specific dates to check, finding out who accessed their records would be next to impossible. So the women just guessed, based on when they'd been contacted. Those were lucky guesses. On December 6th, the information officer said that 3 out of 8 records had been accessed, and those accesses were suspicious, so he'd contacted the RCMP. The accesses originated in the Delta police department, in a suburb of Vancouver. Any cheers for the power of the FOI legislation must be tempered by the fact that the RCMP apparently sat on this issue for another month until, frustrated after what was now four months with no signs of an investigation, the women contacted the media. Apparently, it was media inquiries that sparked some action. On January 5th, the RCMP informed the Delta police that potentially inappropriate computer accesses were coming from their department. Constable Steve Parker, whose anti-abortion views were well known, was now under a cloud of suspicion. The very same day, all Canadian TV networks ran news stories on the situation. Stay tuned - it's not over yet. ------------------------------ End of Computer Privacy Digest V6 #003 ****************************** Sara T. (My thoughts are my own, not my employer's.) * Hazardous Waste Ctr Library * Understand the power of * * [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR * a single action. R.E.M. * * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * When we act, we are heard. N.O.W. *
