Site MenuAnnual Report on the Privacy Act for the period ending March 31, 2018
3. Statistical Report on Requests under the Privacy Act
This section provides an interpretation of several statistics on the processing of requests made to Elections Canada under the Act. All figures and data for the 2017–2018 fiscal year are provided in the attached statistical report (see Appendix II).
3.1 Number of requests
Elections Canada received 28 formal requests for personal information during 2017–2018, a 44 percent decrease from the previous year. Twenty-eight requests were processed during the reporting period and two requests were carried over into the new fiscal year.
Text description of "Received during reporting period "
3.2 Disposition of completed requests
Of the 28 requests completed during the reporting period, 21 resulted in full disclosure of the information requested. This represents 75 percent of all completed requests, similar to the previous fiscal year. One request resulted in partial disclosure, where personal information of individuals unassociated with the request was exempted further to section 26 of the Act. No records were found to exist for three requests, and three requests were abandoned by the applicant.
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3.3 Completion time of requests
As in the previous year, 96 percent of requests for personal information were completed within 30 days. Elections Canada has historically received simple privacy requests that are uncomplicated to process. One request in the 2017–2018 fiscal year required between 31–60 days to complete.
3.4 Disclosures of personal information under paragraph 8(2)(m)
Subsection 8(2) of the Act stipulates that a government institution may disclose personal information under its control without the consent of those whom the information relates. Such disclosures are discretionary and are subject to any other act of Parliament.
Paragraph 8(2)(m) affirms 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.
In accordance with previous years, Elections Canada did not disclose any personal information pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(m) in the 2017–2018 fiscal year.
3.5 Fees and Costs
There is no charge to individuals for processing requests under the Act.
During this reporting period, the ATIP Office expended $211,448 to administer the Act. Salaries accounted for $121,043 of this total, whereas spending on goods and services amounted to $90,405.