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Annual Report on the Privacy Act for the Period Ending March 31, 2014

3. Statistical Report on Requests Under the Privacy Act

This section provides an interpretation of select statistics on the processing of requests made to Elections Canada under the Privacy Act. The full figures for the 2013–2014 fiscal year are provided in the attached statistical report and supplementary statistical report (see appendices II and III).

3.1 Number of Requests

Elections Canada received 40 formal requests for personal information during 2013–2014, a 9 percent decrease from the previous year. Forty-one privacy requests were processed, including one outstanding request from the 2012–2013 reporting period. No requests were carried over into the new fiscal year.

Number of Requests Received
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3.2 Disposition of Completed Requests

Of the 41 requests completed during the reporting period, 35 resulted in full disclosure of the records requested. This represents 85 percent of all completed requests and 100 percent of requests where records were disclosed. No requests resulted in partial disclosure, and no exemptions or exclusions were invoked for any request made under the Privacy Act. No records were found to exist for three requests, and three requests were abandoned by the applicant.

Number and Disposition of Completed Requests
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3.3 Completion Time

In keeping with previous years, 100 percent of requests for personal information were completed within 30 days. Elections Canada has historically received simple privacy requests that are straightforward to process.

3.4 Disclosure of Personal Information Under Paragraph 8(2)(m)

Subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act describes the circumstances under which a government institution may disclose personal information under its control without the consent of the individual to whom the information relates. Such disclosures are discretionary and are subject to any other Act of Parliament.

Paragraph 8(2)(m) stipulates that an institution may disclose personal information for any purpose where, in the opinion of the head of the institution, the public interest in the disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy that could result from it or where the disclosure would clearly benefit the individual to whom the information relates.

Elections Canada did not disclose any personal information pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(m) during the reporting period.

3.5 Fees and Costs

There is no charge to individuals for processing requests under the Privacy Act.

The ATIP Office incurred costs of $152,194 to administer the Privacy Act in 2013–2014. Salaries accounted for $76,050 of this total. Spending on goods and services amounted to $76,144. Much of the total Privacy budget was allocated to privacy-related activities outside of formal requests for personal information.