Privacy commissioner expresses grave concerns over police information checks

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s Information and Privacy Commissioner is expressing alarm after investigating the use of police information checks to screen potential employees in this province, in both the public and private sectors.

“The current state of affairs in British Columbia is at the extreme end of Canadian and international practices with respect to the lack of sensitivity towards the privacy rights of citizens,” commissioner Elizabeth Denham concluded in her report released today (Tuesday).

Police information checks can include information about mental illnesses, suicide attempts, and criminal investigations that have either been dropped, or are untested and unproven in court.

“The current record check system in British Columbia permits the release of more mental health information and other non-conviction information than the vast majority of other jurisdictions we studied,” Denham found.

She looked at what Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe are doing and found the information disclosed in B.C. “is on the extreme end of the disclosure spectrum compared to other jurisdictions.”

Denham noted a “significant increase” in the use of these reports in recent decades.

While some employers consider them to be a valuable screening tool, she noted, there’s a lack of research to support this. Though the reports rely on the applicants’ consent, she observed, it’s most unlikely they’ll get the job if they refuse.

Denham found that police information checks, issued by B.C.’s police forces, “have a significant, real-world impact on British Columbians. These checks can affect an individual’s ability to successfully obtain employment and can have lasting negative effects on their dignity and self-esteem.”

She also found the current release of information by police “does not achieve the appropriate balance” between the individual’s right to privacy and the employer’s right to obtain information.

“Through police information checks, non-conviction information is routinely disclosed to employers without any evidence that these checks result in better hiring decisions,” Denham said.

She said the provincial government should introduce legislation to achieve an appropriate balance. Until then, added, it’s “vital” for the government and police boards to change their policies and practices to be consistent with her recommendations.

The practice of providing mental health information in police information checks must be stopped immediately, she concluded, and the release of non-conviction information outside of the “vulnerable sector” should be prohibited.

A vulnerable sector check applies to prospective teachers, social workers, daycare workers, nurses, children’s sports coaches and other employees and volunteers working with vulnerable members of society like children, the elderly and the disabled.

Moreover, Denham recommended that conviction information should be released outside the “vulnerable sector” only if it’s relevant to the job being applied for.

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com