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]