Canada Media Fund Board of Directors – appointment opportunity: Executive summary of the privacy impact assessment (PIA)

On this page

• List of acronyms and abbreviations
• About the Department of Canadian Heritage
• About the Canada Media Fund
• Purpose of this privacy impact assessment
• Project authority
• Scope of the PIA
• Summary of recommendations

List of acronyms and abbreviations

ATIP

Access to Information and Privacy

CMF

Canada Media Fund

PCH

Department of Canadian Heritage

PIA

Privacy impact assessment

This report examines the privacy impacts associated with the nomination process for the members of the Board of Directors of the Canada Media Fund (CMF).

About the Department of Canadian Heritage

The Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH) was established as a federal department in 1995. Its mandate is to promote Canada’s culture, history and heritage, and to protect Canadian identity and values. The Minister of Canadian Heritage has the responsibility to nominate members to the CMF’s Board of Directors.

About the Canada Media Fund

The CMF supports the creation of popular, innovative Canadian content and software applications. The CMF receives contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and Internet Protocol Television distributors. The CMF is a not-for-profit corporation that supports the Canadian television and digital media industries through two streams of funding.

Purpose of this privacy impact assessment

PCH is named in the Schedule to the Privacy Act and is subject to the privacy policies and directives of the Government of Canada. Under the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Policy on Privacy Protection, all federal institutions subject to the Privacy Act are required to undertake an assessment of the privacy impacts associated with the development or design of new programs or services involving personal information. PIAs are also required when personal information is used as part of a decision-making process that directly affects an individual.

Part of the responsibilities of the Minister of Canadian heritage is to nominate members to the Board of Directors of the CMF. This involves the collection of sensitive personal information for the purpose of an administrative decision about an individual. Therefore, the purpose of this PIA is to mitigate all privacy risks link to this process.

Project authority

The PIA was completed under the direction of the Broadcasting, Copyright and Creative Marketplace Branch.

Scope of the PIA

This PIA is for the administration of an activity. Only personal information, with no contextual sensitivities, are collected directly from the individual. Use of personal information is contained within the institution (PCH). The activity occurs every four years. This activity uses personal information for external administrative purposes and affects certain individuals. No enhanced identification methods or surveillance are used. The personal information is used within a closed system. The privacy risk for this activity is evaluated as low.

Summary of recommendations

After analysis of privacy risks, the Access to Information and Privacy office within PCH recommended the following improvements, all of which have been addressed by the program:

1. It is recommended that the CMF program authorities within PCH conduct a statement of sensitivity to ensure that data collected through this activity is secured in a manner consistent with its sensitivity and security designation. If necessary, the CMF should conduct a threat risk assessment as well.
2. It is recommended that the CMF program authorities within PCH elaborate a privacy notice that includes the minimum requirements set by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in the Directive on Privacy Practices.
3. It is recommended that the CMF program authorities within PCH establish a conservation calendar and have the appropriate records disposition authority, in order to make sure that the personal information collected is disposed of at the appropriate time.

Management has fully addressed all three of the recommendations made by the Access to Information and Privacy office.