Elections Canada privacy problems

So the Canadian government’s Privacy Commissioner decided to investigate the practices of  Elections Canada.  The concern was that since organizations like this collect such a large amount of personal information from citizens,  they are prime targets for identity theft. 

I guess there was some valid concerns that came out of this investigation, and the main points are produced below.

• At least one per cent of voters lists have gone missing during elections and byelections.
• Elections Canada collects too much personal information on Canadians, including some teenagers too young to vote.
• Paper and electronic copies of voter lists are widely circulated to political parties and candidates, who aren't covered by the same privacy laws that federal employees have to abide by. Stoddart said that is a notable gap in Canada's privacy legislation.
• Such parties don't have a formal way to report privacy breaches to Elections Canada.
• Canadians aren't fully informed about how their personal information will be used.

It’s tough to conduct an election without a lot of the personal info collected by Elections Canada.  It helps determine your identity at the poll and should stop voter fraud.  But the Commissioner is right in that this info is at extreme risk of being stolen.  Poll workers are generally just regular citizenry, paid a fair wage but not one that could compete with the lure of ill-gotten gains. 

Or a situation like this could emerge:

Stoddart cited one example from 2006, when RCMP discovered lists of voters' names and addresses at an office belonging to the Tamil Tigers, classed in Canada as a terrorist organization, which was allegedly using them to find people who might help them financially

That is a concern that never would have crossed my mind, but apparently it exists.  It would be worthwhile to make the changes to Elections Canada as soon as possible, to prevent any further breaches.

[Source: CBC]

Joe Arpaio – Sheriff with a vendetta

I’ve been biting my tongue on this one and just watching it unfold, but it’s been a pretty wild story.  I started reading about this once Sheriff Arpaio’s deputy was jailed for confiscating a lawyer’s court document in court. 

Now the story gets more and more outrageous.  First, Arpaio railed against the Judge’s decision, now he’s taken to actively pursuing the judges who rule against him.  The Judge who jailed the deputy, Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe, has been arrested by the Sherriff’s office and is being accused of hindering prosecution, obstructing justice and bribery. 

The complaint names all five members of the Board of Supervisors, Maricopa County Manager David Smith, Deputy County Manager Sandi Wilson, Wade Swanson of the Office of General Litigation, Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell, Judge Anna Baca, Judge Gary Donahoe, Judge Kenneth Fields, attorney Thomas Irvine, and attorney Edward Novak.

This is a pretty major allegation, and the coverage of it has been extremely unfavourable.  The Phoenix New Times has been very critical, and has reported that pretty much no evidence was offered over these vague allegations.  This is what the New Times says:

Judge Donahoe removed the County Attorney's Office from investigating the court tower construction, he rejected the notion of holding indicted superivisor Don Stapley in contempt of court for alleged wrongdoing, and he jailed detention officer Adam Stoddard on a contempt of court charge.

So first Thomas filed a RICO lawsuit alleging that Donahoe and other superior court judges are part of some vague and convoluted conspiracy, working together to see that the new court tower (with all those big offices and marble floors) is built and the sheriff's office/county attorney's office investigation is thwarted.

Then they charge the big kahuna himself, Judge Donahoe, with criminal counts.

Arpaio’s office also got a warrant to search the home and chambers of Judge Beverly Mundell.  This is an extremely inappropriate manoeuvre, especially with little-to-no evidence of wrongdoing.  Thankfully, the Court of Appeal has stopped the search warrant for now.

TPM has also alleged that Arpaio is under FBI investigation for allegedly using his authority to retaliate against political adversaries. 

This is a chilling story, and one I hope comes to a speedy resolution.