Ottawa, 12 February 2009-There is no integrated federal approach to managing identity information, resulting in duplication and loss of potential benefits for Canadians, says the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, in a Report released today. The audit of how federal institutions manage information they use to identify their clients was released today jointly with an audit of privacy management frameworks, issued by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Jennifer Stoddart.
"Confirming a person's identity every time he or she deals with government is a complex challenge," said Ms. Fraser. "The identity information needed to meet this challenge has to be managed well in the departments and agencies that collect it and across the government as a whole."
The audit found that for the most part, the four audited organizations-the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Elections Canada, Passport Canada, and Service Canada-collect only the identity information they are authorized to collect. They also have adequate practices to manage the quality of identity information in their databases, though Passport Canada needs to improve in some areas.
The Report notes that many initiatives undertaken in the last decade to jointly use and manage identity information have not produced the expected results. For example, 10 years after the first electronic links to provincial systems were established, organizations still have their own separate arrangements with provinces and territories to obtain and pay for death information on the same people; information which they then exchange with each other.
The Auditor General's Report says that the inability to arrive at solutions is due to two main barriers: governance problems, such as unclear roles and responsibilities and different priorities among programs and jurisdictions; and lack of policy direction from the centre of government.
"Federal institutions can do a better job of managing personal information," said Ms. Fraser. "But without stronger leadership from the Treasury Board Secretariat, they will likely continue independently to develop incomplete solutions to their common challenges."
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"Managing Identity Information" is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site. "Privacy Management Frameworks of Selected Federal Institutions" is available on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner Web site.
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