Article: Ontario to tackle address sharing

It looks like there'll be a comprehensive examination of private sector access to government databases following the well-publicised Impark issues:

Ontario to tackle address sharing

Privacy commissioner sought action for years

Parking ticket harassment highlighted policy

JORDAN HEATH-RAWLINGS
STAFF REPORTER

The minister of transportation and Ontario's privacy commissioner will meet soon to examine the complex system that allows more than 3,000 companies and organizations access to the addresses and other personal information of the province's residents.

Privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian wants the government to limit the scope of the organizations that can access personal information, specifically those who use such information to chase down bad debtors.

The authorized request system, which allows certain organizations access to public information in the transportation ministry databases, came under fire this week after stories in the Star revealed that Imperial Parking (Impark) was giving personal information to its collection agency, Canadian Bonded Collection, Inc., to chase people who owed small debts on unpaid parking tickets. The collection agency was calling people repeatedly, sometimes twice a day, according to several people who told the Star they had been receiving the calls for months.

For the rest of the story from the Toronto Star: Ontario to tackle address sharing.