Privacy Commissioner's Report

Preamble:

In 2008 we hired a lawyer to assist us in obtaining documentation from our co-op with regards to the calculation of our subsidy. Part of our concerns was the demand from the co-op for a copy of our ODSP Drug card. We asserted that the drug card had nothing whatosever to do with the calculation of our subsidy and we, therefore, refused to give the co-op a copy of same. Our lawyer agreed with our assertion and wrote the following to the co-op:

On the subject of the new Housing Charge form, we discussed on July 7th that requesting proof of prescription drug coverage is not necessary for the purpose of calculating housing charges and should not be a required document. I have discussed the new form with the Privacy Commissioner's Office and we are justified in questioning whether it conforms to the privacy law. Do you want to go ahead and readjust the form to meet privacy law requirements? If the form is left as is, I have instructions to proceed with a formal privacy complaint.

Our lawyer never did hear back from our Office Co-ordinator either by phone, fax or letter. My husband and I filed a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner's office in January, 2009.

In December, 2009 our housing co-operative wrote us the following:

Your concerns regarding privacy issues and the request to provide drug eligibility verification was specifically addressed with Co-ordinator's in the City of Ottawa, with CHASEO, and also with _____, Manager of Co-op Services, CHF Canada. All inquiries were anonymous and did not reference any Co-op or member. All inquiries have led your Board to the conclusion that the request for this information is justified and, in fact required to confirm household composition. To further emphasize this, CHF Canada has informed us that the Co-op has a "duty" to obtain this information for subsidy verification purposes. The issue of Privacy of Information does not preclude this request. The Co-op's responsibility is to ensure that all such information received is treated with the strictest of confidence, and the Board ensures that such information will not be disseminated or otherwise disclosed, without explicit written consent. The information will be safeguarded in your file as with all member information.

We were delighted to learn yesterday that the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has ruled in our favour. Here is the report:


Complaint under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (the Act)

1. The Complainant alleges that [co-op] ("Respondent") requires the collection of more personal information than is required to support his family's rent subsidy.

2. Specifically, he states that the Respondent has asked for a copy of the Ontario Disability Support Program Drug Card ("Drug Card") as verification of the number of people residing in his residential unit.

3. The Complainant alleges that the Drug Card does not provide the information the Respondent believes it does and it is therefore a collection of more information than is necessary. In other words, the Drug Card does not contain information about the number of people living in a residential unit.

Summary of Investigation

4. The Respondent provided submissions that it was their "duty" to obtain information for subsidy verification purposes, as part of the application process to reside in their residential co-operative.

5. The application form the Complainant was required to fill out makes reference to the need for Social Assistance Recipients to submit copies of benefits statements and dental/medical cards, as they indicate the number of household residents.

6. There are references on the application form that are outdated social assistance legislation that was replaced 12 years ago.

7. The Respondent provided an excerpt of an Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing pamphlet entitled 'Rent Geared-to-Income Handbook'. The pamphlet states that "Copies of the Notice of Assistance Stub and the Drug Benefits Eligibility Card should be used as verification for tenants/members on social assistance".

8. The pamphlet further states: "The Drug Benefits Eligibility Card identifies the number of beneficiaries in the household and the cheque stub will provide ... [further information].

9. Our investigation uncovered the fact that the pamphlet has been updated several times and the version the Respondent was relying on was out of date. Importantly, the newest version of the pamphlet makes no reference to the Drug Card, or the need to collect a copy of the card for any reason.

10. Lastly, the Respondent indicated that it was relying on the pamphlet solely based on the instructions from the Agency for Co-operative Housing (the "Agency") - not because of any legal requirement to apply the procedures in that pamphlet. The Respondent understood that the Agency had provided the instructions to collect the Drug Card from tenants.

11. However, the Agency informed us that they do not require the Respondent to collect the Drug Card. Rather, from the Agency's perspective, the Respondent must collect only information which verifies a tenant's income.

12. The Drug Card is a social benefit administered by the Ontario government. Its purpose is solely to identify to pharmacists those individuals eligible for assistance in having their medication paid for through social assistance programs. It does not provide verification of income or confirmation of the number of people in any one residence.

Application

13. In making our determinations, we applied Principles 4.4 and 4.4.1 of Schedule 1 of the Act.

14. Principle 4.4 states:

"The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the organization. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means."

15. Principle 4.4.1 states:

"Organizations shall not collect personal information indiscriminately. Both, the amount and the type of information collected shall be limited to that which is necessary to fulfill the purposes identified."

Findings

16. The Respondent has been operating under the misapprehension that the collection of the Drug Card was necessary to verify the number of people living in a residential unit.

17. The misapprehension appears to have arisen because of their reliance on an outdated Government of Ontario pamphlet and a misunderstand as to the instructions the Respondent received from the Agency.

18. Moreover, their application process is out-of-date in that it makes reference to out dated legislation. This suggests that the Respondent has not recently examined their application process.

19. As part of this investigation, the respondent indicated that it will cease to collect the Drug Card as part of the application process.

Conclusion

20. Accordingly, the matter is considered well-founded and resolved.

*****

The co-op is still using subsidy application forms 13 years out of date with, of course, a demand for social services drug card. The Agency, CHASEO, CHF and Office Co-ordinators will not likely be informed of the Privacy Commissioner's ruling. If our co-op does not update their subsidy application forms, we will have no choice but to apply to the Federal Court of Canada to force them to do so. The intransigence and arrogance of it all!