Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP)

Privacy impact assessment summary

Electronic Monitoring Program Pilot (EMPP)

The Electronic Monitoring (EM) of criminal justice defendants and offenders has been done since 1964 and the use of EM technologies in North America has grown steadily since. There are a number of EM technologies available to aid in the detention, restriction and surveillance of individuals within the criminal justice system. Two of the most common are the Radio Frequency (RF) System and the Global Positioning System (GPS).

One of CSC’s priorities is the safe transition of offenders into the community and to achieve this priority CSC has committed to developing strategies to enhance supervision and monitoring tools for higher-risk offenders in the community. One way to achieve this is the development, implementation and assessment of an EMPP. The EMPP will allow CSC to test the efficiency of using GPS technology as a supervision tool to assist in managing higher-risk offenders in the community. It will also allow CSC to identify future needs and requirements in relation to a larger-scale, national EM program.

The purpose of the PIA was to determine if there are privacy risks associated with the EMPP and if so, to provide recommendations on the mitigation or elimination of the risks.

The assessment demonstrates that the proposed information sharing method was developed in accordance with the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Privacy Act and Treasury Board Secretariat’s Policy on Privacy and Data Protection.

Privacy risks have been identified as part of the assessment and are being addressed.