Privacy czar probing whether U.S. officials saw Canadian bank records: Knowledge Driven Revolution

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada's privacy watchdog has launched a full-fledged probe into whether the financial records of Canadians were improperly disclosed to U.S. authorities in the fight against terrorism.

Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart announced Monday that she is investigating a global financial co-operative, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), as well as several Canadian banks.

The move follows U.S. media reports in June that American authorities had gained access to information about international money transfers in the SWIFT database.

"The risks resulting from personal information flowing across borders is something that we have been expressing concerns about for some time," Stoddart said in a statement.

"The SWIFT situation concerns privacy commissioners worldwide and is something we need to examine in more detail."

SWIFT, based in Belgium, is an industry-owned co-operative that supplies secure messaging services and software to more than 7,800 financial institutions around the world.

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In late June, the organization acknowledged that in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States, it responded to "compulsory subpoenas for limited sets of data" from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department.

"Our fundamental principle has been to preserve the confidentiality of our users' data while complying with the lawful obligations in countries where we operate," it said.

Stoddart said recently that she was looking into whether her office had jurisdiction to look into potential Canadian implications.

She concluded there were "reasonable grounds" for a commissioner-initiated complaint against SWIFT to find out whether there has been any contravention of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Canada's private-sector privacy law.

On Monday, commission spokeswoman Anne-Marie Hayden said: "We have sufficient real and substantial connecting factors to Canada."

Hayden refused to name the banks under investigation.

In late July, an Ottawa-based privacy centre filed a complaint with Stoddart about the six largest Canadian banks: Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada.

The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic argued that data disclosures by the banks via SWIFT would violate Canadian privacy law.

A SWIFT spokesman in Washington referred inquiries Monday to the organization's Brussels office, where the business day had already concluded.

In June, however, SWIFT said its response to the subpoenas had been undertaken in accordance with longstanding procedures set by its board and with advice from international and U.S. legal counsel.

Caroline Hubberstey, spokeswoman for the Canadian Bankers Association, said the banking industry is co-operating fully with the privacy watchdog's investigation.

"The banks take the issue of privacy and protecting the information of their customers very seriously and adhere to privacy laws," she said in an e-mail message.

Hubberstey declined to say whether banks had turned up any instances of SWIFT-related Canadian information being turned over to U.S. authorities.

"The privacy commissioner has an investigation underway. Any questions about the investigation should be directed to her office."

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