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B.C. privacy czar's report vindicates Saanich city hall spyware accusations

B.C. privacy czar's report vindicates Saanich city hall spyware accusations

It seems a plot line worthy of House of Cards.

The newly elected mayor of the small Vancouver Islanddistrict of Saanich decamped from city hall earlier this year, alleging spyingat the municipal headquarters.

Mayor Richard Atwell said in January that his city hall computer was bugged and set up a private email account for constituents to contact him.

To some it seemed, to say the least, unlikely in the sleepy suburb of Victoria, known more for its coastal parks than its political hijinks.

But B.C.’s privacy commissioner now says it’s true, the district had installed invasive surveillance programs on city hall computers that violated the privacy rights of employees.

“The software had been configured to record the activities of district employees, including recording and retaining screenshots of computer activity at 30 second intervals and every keystroke taken on a workstation’s keyboard, and retaining copies of every email sent or received,” says the report released Monday by the office of Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.

“This configuration collected all personal information that a user entered into their workstation, including images of personal internet use, such as internet banking, private passwords, or medical laboratory results, as well as the personal information of any constituents who contacted [council.]”

The program was installed in early December on the computers of the mayor and councillors, the chief administrative officer, the fire chief and a half dozen department directors, privacy commission investigators found.

It violated provincial freedom of information and privacy protection laws, the report says.

Government and businesses must secure their network systems, Denham says, but employees don’t check their privacy rights at the door.

“Spector 360 is primarily an employee monitoring tool, and is of minimal value to the protection the District’s IT security,” the report says.

Atwell says he’s grateful that the commissioner’s office investigated.

“It feels good to be vindicated,” he tells Yahoo Canada News.

The Saanich spying saga began after Atwell won the mayoral seat on Nov. 15.

He was sworn in on Dec. 1 and the IT manager sought authorization to install the program on Dec. 2, according to the commission report.

Atwell learned of the program from a former employee on Dec. 11 and on Dec. 15 lodged a complaint with police. Saanich police determined it was not a Criminal Code violation.

On Jan. 12, Atwell went public with his allegations about the spyware, as well as a complaint that he was being harassed by municipal police.

He also admitted to an extra-marital affair and to initially lying about a related incident last December at the home of a female campaign supporter.

Prompted by media reports, the privacy commission initiated her own investigation – of the surveillance allegations - on Jan. 20. On Jan. 21, the program was disabled.

Atwell says he returned to his city hall office as soon as he found out the program was disabled.

It was tough for a while after he went public with the allegations, he says.

“Certainly, it seemed like I was the only guy out there that had this position that something was wrong,” he says. “Now that’s been validated by the privacy commissioner so it’s a huge win for me and for the public and for governments.”

Denham says one of the most disappointing findings of her office’s investigation was the “near-complete lack of awareness and understanding” of privacy laws in place for two decades now.

The report makes five recommendations, including that the district disable the keystroke logging and other invasive surveillance aspects of the program.

Denham also recommended the district put in place a comprehensive privacy management plan and that her office conduct an audit in future to ensure compliance.

As for the allegations of police harassment, Atwell has lodged a complaint with the provincial police complaints commission. He says that’s an ongoing investigation..