From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Canadian Revenue Agency mails private records to wrong person : CRA SOTW   
      
   Tax agency apologizes for latest privacy breach   
   By Kathy Tomlinson, CBC News Posted: Jun 3, 2013 2:22 AM PT   
      
   The federal privacy commissioner is investigating the Canada Revenue Agency,   
   after it mailed confidential records on other taxpayers to a B.C. woman, and   
   failed to get the package back when she tried to return it.   
      
   “My first reaction to it was, well OK, somebody screwed up, but it could   
   happen to anybody - and I’m sure they want to get it fixed as soon as   
   possible,” said Danielle Baxter, of Langley, B.C.   
       
   “And here I still have it…and it’s my problem to take care of the contents of   
   the envelope that I never should have received.”   
      
   The package arrived at Baxter’s home in mid-May after she requested tax   
   information on her deceased daughter, which she needed to prepare a final tax   
   return.   
      
   “It’s bad enough having to do your child’s tax return after they’ve died,” she   
   said.   
      
   When she opened the CRA envelope, she found her daughter's information, plus   
   cover letters addressed to five other Canadians, stapled to financial records   
   about them or their family members.   
      
   Baxter said she didn’t look at the contents, but instead called the main CRA   
   number, to report the obvious mistake. When she couldn’t get through, she   
   decided to deliver the records in person to the tax centre in Surrey.   
      
   She didn’t get the kind of response she expected.   
      
   “In the doorway is a security guard standing smack in the doorway,” said   
   Baxter, who felt he was there strictly to keep people out.   
      
   He told her the public information office closed a few months ago, she said.   
   “And I said, ‘Here’s my situation. What should I do?’”   
      
   He indicated he couldn’t advise her or even speak to her, Baxter said, because   
   he was being monitored. “He kind of looked around and didn’t say anything… and   
   then he said ‘I’m on camera’,” she said.   
      
   “I couldn’t believe it. He’s on camera, afraid to talk to a taxpayer at the   
   door of the tax building.”   
      
   The security guard suggested she put the unlabelled, open package – with   
   several people’s tax information in it – in the drop box outside.   
   Baxter said she felt that was inadequate, so she went back to her car and   
   tried phoning the main CRA number again. She managed to get through to an   
   employee somewhere in Canada, who put her on hold for several minutes.   
      
   When he came back, she said, he gave her two choices. She could go home and   
   get a fresh envelope, address it with exact wording he gave her, and then   
   drive back to Surrey to put it in the drop box.   
      
   Otherwise, Baxter said, he told her she would have to wait ten days for the   
   CRA to send her a specially-labelled envelope, which she could then use to   
   mail the material back to the agency.   
      
   She asked for someone to come out to meet her - so she could hand over the   
   sensitive records, personally – but said she was told that wasn’t possible.   
      
   “I was sitting in front of the building,” she said. “I don’t see why someone   
   could have come out and received it. As far as I’m concerned if I’d put it in   
   their hand, it’s secure.”   
   "To store it for ten days - until I get their envelope - and then put it in   
   the mail...is considered more secure?" Baxter asked. “At no time did he ask   
   who I was, so that he would have some connection to the material.”   
       
   Baxter then took the paperwork home and decided to contact Go Public, because   
   of how this was handled. She felt the other taxpayers had a right to know   
   where their information went.   
      
   “If they are waiting for their materials in order to file their taxes and I   
   just send this stuff back and nobody makes note of the fact that it had got   
   lost…detained and everything else, are they going to be paying penalties   
   through no fault of their own    
   on their taxes, when they finally file them?” said Baxter.   
      
   “It was really bothering me that I was being left responsible for the whole   
   thing.”   
   Taxpayers affected   
      
   Go Public got the names of the other people affected, without looking at any   
   of their information, and attempted to inform all of them.   
      
   One, who decided to speak out, was Alexandra Fontaine — another mother who was   
   waiting for records to do her deceased son’s taxes. She’s upset over how his   
   identity could have been exploited.   
      
   “It could've gotten in the hands of someone who wasn't honest, who could have   
   used that information…thank goodness it was an honest person,” said Fontaine.   
      
   “It's aggravating because it's just not right, you know, [the CRA] wants us to   
   do things one way, but it's not the same for them.”   
      
   Another person affected works with a large law firm. The firm emailed to say,   
   “[The firm] Fasken Martineau appreciates the CBC’s efforts in contacting us.”   
      
   Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said her office is now investigating to   
   see what went wrong at the CRA.   
      
   “We’re going to see exactly what they did. We’re going to see what the   
   consequences are,” said Stoddart.   
      
   “We’re also going to look at whether this is a systemic issue, because either   
   somebody or some machine that was mis-calibrated or not checked stuffed   
   several tax letters into the same envelope.”   
      
   She said the CRA was already on her radar for too many privacy breaches.   
      
   “It happens far too often,” she said. “We have had quite a few data breaches   
   with the CRA. And we have had enough data incidents, I’d say, enough incidents   
   of mishandling of Canadian’s personal information, that I asked the CRA be   
   audited…we’ll be    
   reporting on that in my next annual report.”   
      
   When asked what repercussions the CRA might face for this breach, Stoddart   
   said, “There has to be some accountability around it and there has to be some   
   remedies going forward. So, I think it would go to training. I would think   
   there has to be some kind    
   of acknowledgement of this Good Samaritan coming forward.”   
      
   The agency said it is sorry and promised to contact all the taxpayers whose   
   privacy was violated.   
      
   “The CRA takes the protection of Canadians’ tax information very seriously.   
   The confidence and trust that individuals and businesses have in the CRA is a   
   cornerstone of Canada’s voluntary tax system,” said spokesperson David Morgan   
   in an email.    
      
   “If there is an incident, corrective action is taken immediately to ensure it   
   doesn’t reoccur. We are aware there has been a report of an incident that   
   involves mail containing taxpayer information. The CRA apologizes for this   
   unfortunate error.”   
      
   The agency has said it will contact all the taxpayers affected. Fontaine has   
   since received her son's tax records by courier.   
      
      
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