Canada moves to counter privacy threat posed by U.S. Patriot Act

According to the Canadian Press, the Federal Government is in the final stages of taking contractual steps to limit the access of American authorities to personal information of Canadians. It is worth noting that this appears to apply only to future contacts and that the government is content to include blocking clauses in agreements with contractors, rather than amending the Privacy Act, as has been done in British Columbia:

Yahoo! News - Canada moves to counter privacy threat posed by U.S. Patriot Act:

"OTTAWA (CP) - The government will revamp the wording of future federal contracts with the aim of countering U.S. powers, granted under anti-terrorism laws, to tap into personal information about Canadians.

The move is intended to prevent the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation from seeing sensitive Canadian data the government supplies to American firms doing business with federal departments in Ottawa.

The government has also asked all agencies and departments to conduct a 'comprehensive assessment of risks' to Canadian information they release to U.S. companies carrying out work under contract.

The U.S.A. Patriot Act, passed following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, gave the FBI broader access to records held by firms in the United States.

The FBI can apply to a U.S. court to have a company disclose records, including information about Canadians, to assist with investigations involving prevention of terrorism or espionage.

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart says that if a federal institution hires a U.S. company to process personal information about Canadians, then American laws apply to the data if the work is being done south of the border.

The federal Treasury Board leads a working group that is now busy finalizing special clauses to be used in future business proposal requests and contracts.

The group is consulting with Stoddart's office on clauses 'that we believe to be fundamental' to include in future request proposals and contracts, says a federal notice recently circulated to departments...."